Chunk of JJP votes shifts to Congress

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

A major chunk of the vote share of the JJP, the alliance partner of the BJP, seems to have shifted to the Congress, resulting in the defeat of alliance candidate and international wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt in the Baroda bypoll.

Data showed that of the 26.45 per cent vote share of the JJP in the 2019 Assembly elections in Baroda, the BJP candidate got only about 10 per cent in the current election, improving his vote share from 30.73 per cent in 2019 to 40.70 per cent in 2020.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP and the JJP had individually polled 57.18 per cent votes and it was expected that their combined vote share would stand Dutt in good stead.

However, Congress candidate Induraj Narwal improved the voting percentage of late legislator Sri Krishan Hooda from 34.67 per cent to 49.3 per cent from 2019 Assembly elections to the current bypoll. The 14.63 per cent increase in the Congress vote share is entirely at the cost of the JJP vote share and largely responsible for the party’s win in the bypoll.

The Congress polled 60,636 (49.3 per cent) votes as compared to the BJP’s 50,070 (40.70 per cent), while former MP Raj Kumar Saini’s LSP (5,611) and INLD (5,003) polled over 4 per cent each.

It is believed that some portion of the vote share of the JJP shifted to its parent party INLD, which improved it’s performance from about 2.5 per cent to over 4 per cent from 2019 Assembly polls to current bypoll. The LSP, which stood third with 4.56 per cent votes, also pocketed some of the JPP’s vote share.

Our vote share up, says Khattar

CM Manohar Lal Khattar said that their party had won despite loss in Baroda bypoll. Interacting with mediapersons today, he said, "Till now, we (the BJP) have never crossed 50,000 votes in Baroda, whether in Lok Sabha or in Assembly election. The Congress has lost 6,000 votes from the previous poll, despite victory this time. They have won four times. It is their traditional seat. The margin has decreased. We have got maximum votes as compared to previous polls and our workers are happy about it.”

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