Chandigarh, December 4
The beleaguered Congress today got a shot in the arm as it won two seats, one each in the assembly by-elections in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Bypolls in the region were held on four seats - Ratia and Adampur in Haryana and Renuka (Reserved) and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress won the seats of Ratia and Nalagarh.

The Ratia victory has a special significance for the Haryana Congress and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as it came after 29 years. With this win the party now has a clear majority in the 90-member Vidhan Sabha with 46 seats.

However, the Congress could not stop the winning streak of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) whose nominee, Renuka Bishnoi won Adampur, where voters once again showed their clear preference and loyalty for the Bhajan Lal clan. The seat has been with the Bhajan Lal family since 1977. Renuka’s victory clearly shows that the Congress has not been able to make any inroads into the constituency even six years after former chief minister’s exit from the party.

While in Ratia, Congress nominee Jarnail Singh defeated Sarfi Bai of the INLD by a margin of 12,703 votes, Renuka Bishnoi won in Adampur with margin of 22,669 votes over her nearest Congress rival Kulbir Beniwal. The election results would surely be a shocker for INLD supremo, Om Prakash Chautala, as the party not only lost in its stronghold of Ratia (Sirsa District) but also came number three in Adampur. The defeat also puts a question mark on his claim of being the undisputed Jat leader of the state.

Even for the BJP, which contested the Ratia seat in alliance with the HJC, the results were a big disappointment as its nominee Mahavir Prashad got only 18142 votes and lost his deposit. It seems that the combined performance of both the HJC and the BJP in Ratia was no better than 2009 assembly polls when they had contested the elections separately. Then the BJP had polled 8,865 votes and the HJC 8,341.

The Ratia victory couldn’t have come at a better time for Hooda, who had been at the receiving end after the party’s defeat in the Ellanabad assembly (2010) and Hisar Lok Sabha (Oct 2011) bypolls. The party’s humiliating defeat in the Hisar by-poll, when it’s nominee Jai Prakash came a poor third had pushed Hooda to the wall with his adversaries within the party building a case for a “change” in the state. In Himachal, Congress and BJP, virtually swapped seats with wins in Nalagarh and Renuka, respectively. BJP candidate from the reserved constituency of Renuka, Hriday Ram, defeated Congress nominee, Vinay Kumar, with a margin of 3,526. Lakhwinder Rana of the Congress made inroads into the BJP’s bastion of Nalagarh by defeating Gurnam Kaur by a margin of 1,599 votes. The HP bypoll verdict is clear indication that voters can’t be taken for granted by the political parties. The voters have also given a subtle message that dynastic politics may not be welcome in the state.

Big Gain for Hooda govt

Ratia victory has a special significance for the Haryana Congress and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as it came after 29 years. With this win, the party now has a clear majority in the 90-member Vidhan Sabha with 46 seats. Hooda had been at the receiving end after the party’s defeat in the Ellanabad Assembly (2010) and Hisar Lok Sabha (Oct 2011) by-polls.