NEW DELHI(TIP): Opposition unity got a booster dose on Thursday, May 31, as the BJP faced stunning defeats in 11 of the 14 byelections for which results were announced and regional forces emerged on top of electoral charts, signaling a new phase in Indian politics.

The ruling BJP faced a crushing defeat in Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana parliamentary segment where Tabassum Hasan, the joint nominee of Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party — backed by Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress — defeated Mriganka Singh of the saffron fold by around 50,000 votes. BJP’s loss in the communally sensitive Kairana stood out considering it had won the segment by over two lakh votes in the 2014 General Election when the Narendra Modi wave swept UP.

Of the four Lok Sabha seats where bypolls were held on May 28, the BJP managed to retain only Palghar in Maharashtra, where it defeated a Shiv Sena candidate. Kairana went to the kitty of a united Opposition; Congress’ UPA partner NCP snatched Bhandara-Gondia in Maharashtra from the BJP and the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, a BJP ally in the North-East, bagged the Nagaland segment.

While the trend of BJP’s losses in parliamentary byelections is not new (it has only won five of 27 Lok Sabha bypolls since its historic 2014 landslide), shockwaves for the saffron party came from states where regional satraps convincingly halted the BJP in nine of the 10 Assembly byelections.

The BJP managed to retain only Tharali in Uttarakhand. In UP, it lost the Noorpur seat to SP’s Naim-ul-Hasan, who was propped up by the joint Opposition. Lalu Prasad’s RJD claimed sweet revenge in Bihar by wresting the Jokihat seat from the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), which deserted the Opposition ranks some time ago to go and settle with the BJP.

Maheshtala in West Bengal went to the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC though the BJP was second, pushing the state’s old players CPM and Congress far behind. In Kerala’s Chengannur, the ruling CPM-led LDF won comprehensively while Silli and Gomia in Jharkhand went to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In Punjab’s Shahkot also, the Congress dealt a severe blow to BJP ally Akali Dal.

An emboldened Opposition saw a clear message in BJP’s multiple defeats. “Victory of a united Opposition,” said Congress’ Pramod Tewari. The results equally established the emergence of a new leader — RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar.

Though signaling a receding Modi wave, Home Minister Rajnath Singh put a spin on the saffron losses by saying, “You have to take two steps back for a big leap.” Overall, it was a day of defense for the BJP, whose spokesman Sambit Patra came up with this reasoning: “We won 325 seats in UP and formed a government. How did we lose bypolls and win later… because bypoll is fought on local issues.”

That said, ahead of the 2019 General Election, Thursday’s most abiding message is that the time for bipolar politics may be over. A senior politician (name withheld) commented:” BJP ke acche din jaane wale hain”.

(With inputs from Tribune, Delhi)