Congress and JD(S) are likely to announce a power-sharing deal for their coalition government in Karnataka on Friday, with unambiguous reiteration that H D Kumaraswamy will be chief minister for the full term and the two parties will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls together.
BJP's loss in Kairana, the third in a row after losing Gorakhpur and Phulpur LS seats, coupled with the defeat in the Noorpur assembly seat, is likely to weaken CM Yogi Adityanath's position within BJP and outside.
BJP's defeat in Kairana and Noorpur, coming just two months after the shocking debacle in Gorakhpur and Phulpur LS bypolls, has brought ominous signs for the ruling party which had romped home with a thumping majority in UP just 14 months ago.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's strategic decision to not campaign in Kairana and Noorpur and the studied silence of BSP supremo Mayawati after directing her party cadres to support SP-RLD candidates paid off for the opposition. In 2014, BJP had pulled off a massive victory in Kairana by consolidating Hindu votes ...
Worrying as the 3-12 scoreline in Thursday's bypoll results would be for BJP, what may cause the party even greater concern is that these results are not merely a reflection of opposition unity but of an erosion in its vote share as well.
A united opposition scored again, winning the Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly seats in UP, making a BJP versus the rest showdown in 2019 seem likely — a prospect further strengthened by non-BJP parties gaining in bypolls in Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Karnataka and Punjab.