India: Ruling Congress Party Receives Setback, Loses All Four By-Polls
By KUNA
India’s main ruling party (the Congress) suffered a huge setback on Monday when it lost all the four by-polls, results of which were announced on Monday.
The four by-polls were held in different states, Haryana, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Out of the four, one by-poll was held for a parliamentary constituency (in Haryana), while the rest three were held in different states’ Assembly constituencies. Political parties opposed to the Congress bagged all the four constituencies.
The by-polls were necessitated either due to death of legislators or their resignations.
The by-polls’ results assume significance even as they are being seen as a referendum on the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government headed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the Centre.
The ruling coalition has been receiving severe criticism over the past one year mainly due to spiralling food prices and a number of scams unearthed in the recent past, running to the tune of several million USD.
