'For the BJP to lose this virtual pocket borough of the saffron brotherhood demonstrates how resolutely the people of Gorakhpur have turned against the party,' says Amulya Ganguli.
He said it should not be allowed to continue 'even for a minute'.
The strengthening of regional outfits may weaken the grand old party's chances of leading a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.
Storming the Janata Dal Secular bastion, the ruling Congress in Karnataka on Saturday won the Mandya and Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seats with impressive margins.
The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Monday wrested the Bellary rural seat from the Bharatiya Janata Party and was ahead in another constituency as counting of votes for the prestigious bypolls held on August 21 was taken up on Monday morning.
Kannada writer U R Ananthamurthy, who had said that he would leave the country if Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister, on Monday said those remarks were made when he was "overcome by emotion" and clarified that he had no such plan, though he continues to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party.
From lining up allies to having them accept him as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's real challenge has just begun, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Why is the entire Cabinet running around in Bangalore?' 'Why are they making arrangements for horse-trading?' 'Is this not the BJP's greed for power?' 'They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka?'
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's political rivals are sharply divided over appealing against her acquittal in a disproportionate assets case that saw her return to power for a fifth time two days ago.
There is a lot riding for both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in Karnataka and both these parties should have their final list of candidates out by March 9. The BJP has almost finalised its list and party sources claim that it would not have taken this much time, but there was a great deal of confusion where the Bangalore North, Chickmagalur and Mysore seats were concerned. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The results for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tripura were announced on Tuesday.
'The BJP suddenly seems vulnerable. This is not entirely surprising. In the past too, governments and leaders who won a thumping Lok Sabha majority lost popularity in a matter of months... The by-polls results shows that a degree of disenchantment with the Modi government is setting in,' says Praful Bidwai.
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