PK elected MLA from Bankipur, Cong retains Datia, BJP wins Manjalpur

In recently held three assembly by-elections, BJP lost two seats- Bankipur in Bihar and Datia in MP. The Congress on Monday retained the Datia assembly seat and BJP won Manjalpur seat but faces huge setback in Bihar. Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor scripted landmark success on his personal electoral debut, achieving an unassailable lead during counting for the Bankipur assembly bypoll in Bihar. A win would secure his party's first-ever seat in the state legislature after zero in the assembly elections last year. Kishor defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by 19,324 votes, polling 64,151 votes against Sinha's 44,827, while RJD's Rekha Gupta finished a distant third with 14,273 votes. Having surged ahead in the early counting trends, Kishor steadily widened his lead, with his victory becoming virtually certain by the 15th round of counting out of a total of 32 rounds.The result ends the BJP’s three-decade hold over the Patna constituency and gives Jan Suraaj its first major electoral breakthrough. This is more than a routine bypoll defeat. Bankipur was considered one of the BJP’s safest urban seats in Bihar.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress party candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeating his nearest rival Ashutosh Tiwari of the BJP by 6,016 votes in the Datia byelection marked by differences in the saffron camp over the choice of candidate. At the end of all 15 rounds of counting, Singh secured 66,757 votes, while Tiwari polled 60,741 votes. Azad Samaj Party candidate Damodar Yadav secured third position by bagging 22,527 votes, District Election Officer and Datia District Magistrate Swapnil Wankhade said. At one point, Singh's lead of 12,607 votes over his nearest rival appeared unassailable, but the BJP nominee managed to close the gap to an extent in the last rounds.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat in Gujarat's Vadodara district, with party candidate Satendrabhai Patel (Satish Patel) registering a massive victory over his Congress rival Bhikhabhai Rabari. Patel won the bypoll seat by a margin of 30,630 votes as he amassed 55481 votes for the ruling party, while Congress candidate Rabari bagged 24851 votes in the bypoll. NOTA received 2247 votes. The ruling BJP had fielded former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor Satish Govindbhai Patel, while the Congress had nominated its Gujarat vice-president and former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari.