Jaipal Reddy says Congress' 'great victory' in Gurdaspur, Vengara, Nanded shows party on comeback trail

Hyderabad: The performance of the Congress in Gurdaspur and Vengara bypolls, and Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation election indicates that the party is on a comeback trail and the NDA on a “declining trend”, senior leader S Jaipal Reddy said on Monday. The former Union minister termed the Congress’ wresting the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab from the BJP “great victory”. Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar won the by-election by a margin of 1,93,219 votes. [caption id=“attachment_4148151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress leader Jaipal Reddy. PTI[/caption] “It is a great victory and indicates change… The victory of Congress in Punjab is an indication of change in the (direction of) wind in north Indian politics,” he told PTI. “It’s also a good omen for (the Congress) in both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat (where elections will be held later this year),” Reddy said. “We did well in Kerala (in the 2016 assembly polls) although we are in opposition there. In Nanded (Maharashtra), Kerala and Punjab together… the Congress is on its way back,” he said. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key partner in the Congress-led UDF Opposition in Kerala, yesterday retained the Vengara Assembly seat by defeating its nearest rival CPI-M candidate in the by-poll. Last week, the Congress won 73 of the 81 seats in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation polls in Maharashtra. Reddy said these performances would give a fresh momentum to the Congress and it also shows the “declining trend of the NDA”.