Gujarat by-poll results bring joy to the BJP camp

Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested four seats from the Congress and was leading in one constituency in assembly by-elections in the state as votes were counted Monday, giving party leaders here a reason to smile.

The Congress could win only two seats from the seven constituencies that went to polls Sep 10.The by-polls were being considered a test for the popularity of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, especially after the worse-than-expected performance of the BJP in parliamentary elections this April-May.        

This is besides its defeat last month in a crucial municipal corporation poll in its stronghold Junagadh.            

The chief minister did not campaign for the by-elections, after the party got 15 out of 26 seats in the Lok Sabha elections while Modi had claimed that he would ensure the BJP gets not less than 24.         

The latest result is a setback for the Congress since it had six legislators from the seven that went to polls.The party snatched from the BJP the Kodinar seat in the Saurashtra region while it retained the Dhoraji seat in the same region.            

But the state's ruling party wrested Dehgam, Sami, Chotila and Jasdan from the Congress.         

Counting for Danta assembly constituency was still on where the BJP was leading by well over 3,000 votes.