Amit Shah hails BJP performance in assembly bypolls

BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday cited his party's win in assembly bypolls to claim that its good governance agenda has prevailed over the opposition's anti-development politics.

With the Congress not winning any of the five seats in the bypolls, Shah took a dig at it, saying that he hoped the party will not claim a moral victory.

After putting up a strong fight in Gujarat, where the BJP won its sixth consecutive Assembly election, the Congress had claimed moral victory last week. 

Shah, in a series of tweets, said that his party's winning spree has continued after the victory in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls as it won three of the five by-elections.

In Arunachal Pradesh, where the BJP is in power, the party wrested the Pakke-Kessang and Likabali Assembly seats from the Congress.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP retained the Sikandra Assembly seat in a bypoll in Kanpur Dehat district.

The result in Sikandra underlines the support of farmers and villages to the BJP, Shah said, claiming that the BSP's "tacit support" to the SP did not help the opposition.

"BJP's good governance agenda prevailed over anti- development politics of the opposition," he said.

The win in Likabali and Pakke Kesang in Arunachal Pradesh show the strong appreciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Act East policy", Shah said.

The BJP will continue to serve the northeast and ensure that the fruits of development reach every citizen, he said.

"I hope Congress leaders won't claim a 'moral victory' even today. After being rejected by Gujarat and Himachal, they have been rejected by people in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. People do not want to accept the corruption and misgovernance of Congress," Shah said.

He also took heart from the rise in BJP's vote share in Sabang in West Bengal, where the party's candidate came third.

Shah claimed that the BJP is fast emerging as an alternative to the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left front, which he alleged has "ruined" West Bengal.

The TMC, in power in West Bengal, unseated the Congress in Sabang Assembly constituency defeating its nearest rival, the CPI(M), by over 64,000 votes.

In the crucial RK Nagar Assembly bypoll, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu suffered a major setback with rival faction candidate T T V Dhinakaran winning the prestigious seat, bettering J Jayalalithaa's margin.