BJP could not retain its five Lok Sabha seats in byelections in past six months

NEW DELHI: The BJP total tally in Lok Sabha stands at 273- just one more than the majority mark. Though the NDA’s number continues to be much higher than the magic figure and there is certainly no threat to the government, the BJP has now strong reason to keep its flock together.
If two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian community are added, the BJP’s tally as on Thursday stand at 275.
The party’s tally has been reduced from 282 in May, 2014 to 273 now. It could not retain its six seats in by-elections while the by-polls of three other seats – Kairana (Uttar Pradesh) and Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya (Maharashtra) – are awaited.
The seats which the BJP could not retain are: Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), Gurdaspur (Punjab), Ajmer and Alwar (Rajasthan) and Phulpur and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh).
Five of these six seats were lost by the party in the past six months.
The BJP had got its first jolt in November, 2015 when it lost Ratlam in by-election. It had lost the seat to Congress candidate Kantilal Bhuria. The party had got the second shock in Punjab where the Congress leader Sunil Jakhar defeated its candidate by a huge margin in Gurdaspur. The seat fell vacant after the death of actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna.
Though there are total five seats vacant in the Lok Sabha as on Wednesday, two – Nagaland and Anantnag (Jammu & Kashmir) – of them were with the non-BJP parties.

Kairana and Palghar seats are vacant due to deaths of the BJP members whereas Bhandara-Gondiya seat fell vacant after its MP Nanabhau Patole had quit the party and resigned from the Lok Sabha.

The BJP had fielded its candidates in other by-elections too. But those seats were not with the party. Such seats include Uluberia in West Bengal and Araria in Bihar

The Trinamool Congress had retained its Uluberia seat by defeating BJP candidate in February while the Araria seat could be retained by the RJD – the result of which was declared on Wednesday.
The government at Centre is, however, comfortably placed with its NDA tally at 330. Its allies include Shiv Sena (18), TDP (16), LJP (6), SAD (4), RLSP (3) and JD (U) and Apna Dal (2 each).