Ruling parties hold their ground in Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls

BJP and Trinamool Congress won two Lok Sabha seats each, claiming it was a vindication of their stand on demonetisation, as ruling parties in six states and Puducherry won the byelections, retaining most of the assembly seats.

Counting for the November 19 by-elections in four Lok Sabha constituencies and 10 assembly seats across six states and one Union territory began on Tuesday morning. The elections were the first real test for the BJP-led NDA government following the Centre’s decision to demonetise 1000 and 500 rupee banknotes.

Bypolls were conducted for three assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, two in Tripura, one each in Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh and the Union territory of Puducherry.

The Lok Sabha seats contested were Lakhimpur in Assam, Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, and Coochbehar and Tamluk Parliamentary seats in West Bengal.

The results are:

West Bengal | The ruling Trinamool Congress retained the Coochbehar and Tamluk Lok Sabha seats along with the Monteshwar assembly seat. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee called the mandate as the “people’s revolt” against the Centre’s “financial emergency”.

Madhya Pradesh | The BJP kept both the Shahdol parliamentary seat and the Nepanagar assembly seat in a contest with Congress that targeted the NDA over the demonetisation issue.

Tripura | The Left front led by the CPI(M) retained the Khowai assembly seat and gained another by winning the Barjala assembly seat from the Congress.

Assam | The BJP, which formed its first northeastern government in Assam, won both the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat and Baithalangso assembly seat. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the result was a reflection of the people’s support for the NDA’s battle against black money.

Arunachal Pradesh | The North East Democratic Alliance’s candidate won the Hayuliang assembly seat against a lone rival, an independent candidate. Dasanglu Pul, the third wife of the late former chief minister Kalikho Pul, contested the elections on a BJP ticket.

Tamil Nadu | AIADMK swept up all three assembly seats -- Thanjavur, Aravakkurichi and Thirupparankundram -- signalling a clear victory over its principal opposition party, the DMK.

Puducherry | Chief minister and Congress leader V Narayanasamy won the assembly bypoll by taking the Nellithoppe seat, and will be inducted on Wednesday.

Here are the live updates from the counting day:

6:14pm: Tamil Nadu | AIADMK wins the remaining two assembly seats, making it a ruling party victory in the state. In Aravakkurichi, AIADMK’s V Senthil Balaji defeated DMK’s KC Palanisamy while at Thirupparankundram AIADMK’s AK Bose defeated DMK’s P Saravanan.

5:10pm: Assam | BJP wins bypolls in Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat and one assembly

4:40pm: Assam | BJP candidate Mansing Rongpi is leading over his nearest rival, Congress’ Rupensing Ronghang by 4,835 votes in the race for the assembly seat

4:16pm: Arunachal Pradesh | BJP’s Dasanglu Pul wins Anjaw assembly seat by 944 votes.

3.33pm: West Bengal | Trinamool Congress’ Partha Pratim Roy wins Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat by 4,13,231 votes

3.04pm: Tamil Nadu | AIADMK’s AK Bhose defeats DMK’s Sarvanan by a margin of 42,627 votes to win Thiruparankkundram assembly bypolls.

2.36pm: Madhya Pradesh | BJP’s Gyan Singh wins Lok Sabha seat from Shahdol by a margin of 60383 votes.

1.29pm: West Bengal | Trinamool Congress’ Dibyendu Adhikari wins Tamluk Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival CPM’s Mandira Panda by 4.97 lakh votes

1.10pm: Tamil Nadu | After 10 rounds of counting in Aravakkurichi, AIADMK’s Senthil Balaji leads by 16,713 votes. In Thiruparankkundram, the AIADMK’s AK Bose leads by 27,744 votes.

AIADMK candidate AK Bose leading in Thirupparankundram by 24,796 votes #TNPolls @htTweets

— Aditya Iyer (@Theadityaiyer) November 22, 2016

12.25pm: Puducherry | Chief minister V Narayanasamy wins Nellithope assembly bypoll.

12.04pm: Tamil Nadu | AIADMK leads in Aravakurichi and Thirupurakundram constituencies

In Aravakuruchi after five rounds of counting, AIADMK’s Senthil Balaji leads his DMK rival by 7,756 votes

After eight rounds of counting in Thiruparakundram, AIADMK leading so far at 39,942 votes against DMK’s 28,370

11.55am: Tamil Nadu | AIADMK’s M Rengasamy defeats his nearest rival in Thanjavur from DMK by more than 26,483 votes.

11.45am: Madhya Pradesh | BJP’s Manju Dadu wins on Nepanagar assembly seat by 40,600 votes.

10.53am: Tripura | CPI(M) wins both assembly seats in the bypoll.

CPI(M)’s Jhumu Sarkar (15,769 votes) beats his nearest BJP rival Shistamohan Das (12,395 votes) by a 3,374-vote margin in Barjala (SC) constituency.

In Khowai constituency, CPI(M) candidate Biswajit Datta with 24,810 votes trounced his nearest TMC candidate Manoj Das (8,763 votes) by a margin of 16,047 votes.

10.36am: Tamil Nadu | AIADMK leading from Thiruparankundram and Aravakurichi assembly seats

10.26am: All the ruling AIADMK candidates in Tamil Nadu and Congress candidate in chief minister V Narayansamy in Puducherry established early leads

Tamil Nadu | According to Election Commission, AIADMK shoots into lead in Thanjavur constituency. The party’s candidates also leading in Thirupparankundram and Aravakkurihchi seats also. In Aravakkurichi, ruling AIADMK’s V Senthil Balaji leads against the DMK’s KC Palanisamy by 4,000 votes.

At Thirupparankundram, the AIADMK’s AK Bose is leading over DMK’s P Saravanan by close to 5,000 votes.

In Thanjavur, the AIADMK’s M Rengasamy has taken a huge lead of over 15,000 votes against DMK’s Anjugam Bhoopathy

Puducherry | In Nellithope, Congress leader Narayanasamy is contesting against AIADMK nominee Om Shakthi Segar.

10.20am: Assam | BJP leading with 24,312 votes on Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat, Congress at second with 12,484 votes

10.15am: West Bengal | TMC leading by 34,842 votes on Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat

10.00 am: Madhya Pradesh | In Shahdol, Gyan Singh of BJP leads by 2,000 votes against Himadri Singh of the Congress. In Nepanagar, Manju Dadoo of BJP is leading by 11,000 votes against Antarsingh Barde of Congress

9.55am: Tripura | CPI(M) wins both Barjala and Khowai assembly seats in Tripura

9.23am: Tripura | Barjala assembly seat: CPI(M) leading with 8,466 votes, BJP at second with 6391. CPI(M) leading on Khowai assembly seat.

9.01am: TamilNadu | First counting round for Thanjavur assembly seat ends. AIADMK at 5,993 votes ahead of DMK at 3,974 votes.

8.57am: Madhya Pradesh |

Counting begins for Madhya Pradesh’s Nepanagar assembly bypolls (ANI on Twitter)

8.00am: Counting starts in three assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu and in Nellithoppu constituency in Pondicherry.

(With agency inputs)