LDF takes Cong (M)’s fort after 54 yrs, Congress wrests Dantewada from BJP

NEW DELHI: LDF created history in Kerala on Friday by wresting from the opposition UDF the Pala assembly seat which Kerala Congress (M) veteran, late KM Mani, had held for 54 years. In other assembly bypolls, Congress wrested the Dantewada (ST) seat in Chhattisgarh from BJP while the saffron party managed to retain the Hamirpur seat in UP and the Badharghat (SC) constituency in Tripura.
In Pala, NCP candidate Mani C Kappen finally emerged victorious after three straight defeats by trouncing UDFbacked independent Jose Tom Pulikkunnel by a margin of 2,943 votes. The bypoll was held after the death of Mani, who held the seat for 13 consecutive terms. Kappen was decisively defeated by the Kerala Congress (M) stalwart in the 2016 assembly elections and even in the LS elections earlier this year, the UDF had stayed ahead of LDF.
However, infighting in Kerala Congress (M) diminished UDF’s chances in the bypoll. BJP finished a poor third. In Chhattisgarh, Congress nominee Devti Karma defeated BJP’s Ojaswi Mandavi in Dantewada (ST) by over 11,000 votes. The bypoll was necessitated following the assassination of Ojaswi’s husband Bhima Mandavi just before the LS polls.
In UP, BJP nominee Yuvraj Singh defeated SP’s Manoj Kumar Prajapati by 17,867 votes in a four-cornered contest. In Tripura, BJP’s Mimi Majumder won the Badharghat (SC) seat by defeating CPM’s Bulti Biswas by 5,276 votes.
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References

1. ^{^} Kerala Congress (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Chhattisgarh (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Tripura (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Yuvraj Singh (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Manoj Kumar (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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