Below-par show by BJP in bypolls a fillip for Opposition

THE Opposition, whose INDIA bloc is in disarray, finally has a reason to smile. The June 19 Assembly byelections have witnessed an underwhelming show by the BJP, which managed to win only one of the five seats on offer in four states. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won two seats (one each in Punjab and Gujarat), while the Congress and the Trinamool Congress bagged one apiece. The BJP will be particularly disappointed that it didn’t win the Visavadar seat in Gujarat, the state where it has been in power without a break for almost three decades. The saffron party fancied its chances after the sitting AAP legislator jumped ship. However, AAP recovered from the setback and upstaged the BJP. The bypoll win is no fluke as Arvind Kejriwal’s party had clinched five seats in the 2022 Assembly polls to gain a foothold in the BJP-ruled state.