OPINION: By-polls give signals that India wants 'Congress-yukta' Bharat!

New Delhi: In closely-fought battle, opposition Congress on Thursday retained the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in by-elections in Madhya Pradesh which is presently ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, Congress bagged the seats with reduced victory margins. In Kolaras, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav defeated the BJP's Devendra Jain by 8,086 votes, Election Commission official said. In Mungaoli, Congress nominee Brajendra Singh Yadav won by defeating BJP's Bai Sahab Yadav by 2,124 votes. Congress' victory in Kolaras and Mungaoli gained significance as the assembly polls are due by the end of the year in which chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be seeking his fourth term. MP Legislative Assembly will be held to elect members of the 230 constituencies. The election is likely to be held in November. After the result, Congress' Jyotiraditya Scindia congratulated the party workers on Wednesday. He said that the victory in by-polls "is just a beginning".

मुंगावली के बाद अब कोलारस में महेंद्र सिंह यादव जी की ज़बरदस्त जीत के लिए मैं हृदय से अपनी जनता और अपने कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं का आभारी हूँ। आपने जीवटता, मेहनत और लगन से इस लक्ष्य को हासिल किया। ये तो अभी महज शुरुआत भर है मप्र में परिवर्तन की।

— Jyotiraditya Scindia (@JM_Scindia) February 28, 2018

On Thursday morning, Shivraj Singh Chouhan also congratulated the Congress party. He also assured that he will continue his development plans for both the Kolaras and Mungaoli seats and also for the state.

मुंगावली और कोलारस विधानसभा क्षेत्र के उपचुनाव में विजयी कांग्रेस प्रत्याशियों को बधाई। लोकतंत्र में जनता जनार्दन है। मैं जनता के फैसले को स्वीकार करता हूँ। दोनों क्षेत्रों और राज्य के विकास के लिए मेरा समर्पण और परिश्रम सतत जारी रहेगा। — ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) March 1, 2018

Interestingly, Congress party is winning one by-poll after the another. In February, the grand old party won all three seats in the Rajasthan by-polls. It definitely gave a major blow to the ruling BJP ahead of several state elections and the General Elections in 2019. Congress won the Alwar and Ajmer parliamentary seats and the Mandalgarh assembly segment, all held by BJP. Interestingly, since the Rahul Gandhi has taken reins of the party, its fortunes seems to have been changing. One may call it the game of stars or RaGa's hard work but the fact is that the Congress' performance has improved. In Gujarat assembly poll, although the party lost but it was seen by many as respectable defeat. Then it won three seats in Rajasthan by-polls (state which is also ruled by the BJP) and now in Madhya Pradesh. This shows that India still wants "Congress-yukta" Bharat (India). In a country like India, given the nature of our political setup and common man's mindset, if one national party thinks that it can totally eclipsed the other party(s), then it seems very unlikely. To read other by-line stories, interviews and opinion pieces by Anurag Kumar CLICK HERE About the author: Author Anurag Kumar is an Associate Producer in ABP News Network Pvt Ltd and tweets at @AnuragSason Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.