A political novice, YSR Congress' M Gurumoorthy defeated former Union Minister of State Panabaka Lakshmi of the Telugu Desam Party by a margin of over 2.70 lakh votes.
BJP state president C R Paatil and CM Vijay Rupani expressed their gratitude to the voters and party workers for ensuring a huge victory for the BJP candidate in Gujarat.
Out of 15,391 votes counted in the first 4 rounds, BJP's Nimisha Suthar bagged 11,240 votes, while Congress rival Suresh Katara was trailing by 3,547 votes.
Of the six seats it contested in UP bypolls, Congress couldn't win any. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav subsequently ruled out the possibility of an alliance with ‘bigger parties’.
The bypoll in Dumka was necessitated by the resignation of CM Hemant Soren, who contested from 2 seats in 2019. Barhait went to bypolls after incumbent MLA died.
These elections assume significance as they are the first to be held amid the pandemic, with BJP leaders telling ThePrint that the BJP’s performance is an endorsement of PM Modi’s Covid handling.
According to EC data, the gap between the margin of votes secured by Congress and BJP candidates is significant in at least five constituencies — Limbdi, Abdasa, Kaprada, Dang and Karjan.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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