The BJP retained three and the AIUDF regained one of the four Assembly seats in Assam where bypolls were held on Monday and votes were counted on Thursday.
The Congress, which had contested all the four constituencies and drew a blank, losing Jania constituency to Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF.
The BJP retained Sonari, Rangapara and Ratabari.
In Ratabari, Bijoy Malakar got 68,455 votes, defeating Congress candidate Keshab Prasad Rajak by 24,000 votes.
In Rangapara, Rajen Borthakur won the bypoll with 78,301 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Kartik Kurmi of the Congress, by 49,599 votes.
In Sonari, Nabanita Handique, the only woman candidate in the bypoll, garnered 66,698 votes, defeating her nearest rival, Congress’s Sushil Kumar Suri, a crorepati, by 15,430 votes.
In Jania, AIUDF candidate Rafiqul Islam got 82,780 votes against 46,639 votes garnered by Congress candidate Shamsul Hoque and 15,360 votes by BJP candidate Towfiqur Rahman. The constituency had attracted attention as all the three major parties did their best to woo voters.
The average vote share of the BJP and the AIUDF in the four constituencies were 45.18 and 16.15 per cent respectively. The Congress received 33.78 per cent votes, Altogether 1.63 per cent voters opted for Nota (none of the above).
BJP workers started celebrating from noon when their candidates were leading by a huge margin in three constituencies. Party leaders had been claiming that the BJP would win three seats.
The BJP’s Assam unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the party’s vote share
had increased in all the four constituencies, proving that the people had faith in the party’s sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas mantras. He thanked party leaders, including chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, North East Democratic Alliance convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, as well as party members at the grassroots for their hard work.
Sarma said he was grateful to the people of the state for their continued faith in the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A jubilant Borthakur said, “It is not our party’s victory. It is a victory of the voters of the greater Rangapara area.”
He hoped to expedite development work in the constituency with the help of the people. Handique reassured the workers and supporters of other parties that she would work for the development of everyone.
“Members or supporters of other parties should not be afraid. I will work for all,” she said.
The Congress had fielded three tea garden candidates in constituencies with a sizeable number of tea garden population. The party’s head-office here wore a deserted look during the day.
