Ruling parties in three states and a Union Territory won the bye-elections to five assembly seats and one parliamentary constituency for which results were announced on Friday.
Ruling parties win all six seats in bypolls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept both seats that went to bypolls in West Bengal, as well as the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam. In Tamil Nadu, chief minister Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won the two seats that were contested, while NDA partner All India NR Congress (AINRC) retained the one Puducherry seat where by-elections were held.
“I congratulate the victorious BJP candidates and also applaud the hardwork of our party karyakartas. This mandate will give us added strength as we work tirelessly for the welfare of the people and to fulfil their aspirations for a brighter and more prosperous future,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X.
BJP wins both West Bengal seats
{{/usCountry}}BJP wins both West Bengal seats
{{/usCountry}}In West Bengal, ruling BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar won the Rejinagar seat by defeating Golam Nabi Azad, the Aam Janata Unnayan Party’s (AUJP) candidate and son of party chief Humayun Kabir, by 75,816. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction finished fourth and the Ritabrata Banerjee-led group finished sixth.
It is the first time a non-Muslim candidate has won the seat, which is located in the Muslim-majority Murshidabad district. It is also the first time the BJP won the seat, which Kabir had bagged in the assembly polls held earlier this year. He won from two seats in the April elections and opted to retain Naoda, which is also in Murshidabad.
“Everyone voted for the BJP, irrespective of whether they were Hindu or Muslim… They [Muslims] were told that if the BJP came to power, they would be sent back to Bangladesh or put in detention camps. Over the past five months, they realised the falsity of these claims, and we got their votes,” chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said.
The BJP’s Hasirani Rath defeated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan by 122,753 votes in Nandigram, a seat Adhikari had held since 2016. Adhikari won from two constituencies in the recent assembly polls but opted to retain Bhabanipur, from where he defeated former chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee had announced support for the Congress candidate after her pick, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her nomination days before voting took place.
Congress’s Subhankar Sarkar alleged that the results reflected the victory of “muscle power”, and Kunal Ghosh, a member of the Mamata-led TMC faction, alleged that the election had been “looted”. The BJP rejected the allegations.
Also read: Nandigram bypoll result: BJP's Hasirani Rath leads in early trends for key West Bengal seat
TVK clears first electoral test in Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, TVK candidates K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats, respectively, as the newly formed party passed its first electoral test since its surprise assembly poll victory in May and raised its tally in the 234-member House to 109, giving its coalition a margin on a simple majority. Five seats are currently vacant in the assembly, making the effective majority 115 seats. Its ally Congress has five seats; VCK 2; IUML 2; CPI and CPI(M), which have criticised the government have two seats each.
The bypolls were necessitated after Kumaravel and Sathyabama, who won the April elections as AIADMK candidates, resigned from the assembly and joined the TVK. The AIADMK finished third in both seats. Six AIADMK MLAs resigned and joined the TVK in July, with bypolls to four other constituencies held by the defectors yet to be announced.
“We won by using the formula of love, affection and safeguarding democracy. Tamil Nadu has proven that it is not a fortress of corrupt forces, rather, it is a fortress of immense people power,” Vijay said in a statement.
Former chief minister MK Stalin, whose DMK finished second in both contests, hit out at Vijay. “We will continue our daily campaign to tear off the mask of Chief Minister Vijay, who used cinematic charisma as capital to deceive the people, come into power, and run a government as a puppet for a few corporate mafias,” he said.
AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami accused the ruling party of using its power to secure victory. “In this by-election, the ruling TVK deployed all its ministers alongside money power, official power, and muscle power,” he said.
Also read: Vijay's magic continues in Tamil Nadu, TVK wins both bypolls to boost numbers in assembly
BJP wrests Nagaon Lok Sabha seat from Congress
The bypoll to Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency also highlighted the BJP’s gains in a seat previously held by its rivals, as it wrested the constituency from the Congress, which won it in 2019 and 2024.
BJP’s Devasish Sharma defeated All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) candidate Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal, while the Congress finished third. The constituency covers assembly segments in Morigaon and Nagaon districts, both of which had Muslim-majority populations according to the 2011 Census.
The seat fell vacant in March after sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the party and joined the BJP. He later won from the Dispur assembly seat on a BJP ticket in the April elections.
“This result reflects Adarniya Modi ji’s popularity across communities and the continued trust the people of Assam place in his vision of a Viksit Bharat. I thank the people of Nagaon for this resounding mandate and promise to carry our Vikas journey forward with greater vigour,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
AINRC retains Thattanchavady seat in Puducherry
In Puducherry, the ruling AINRC won the Thattanchavady constituency, where the bypoll was necessitated after chief minister N Rangasamy resigned from the seat following his victory from Mangalam in the April 9 assembly elections. The AINRC fielded his close confidante and former legislator Ashok Anand, who defeated Congress candidate E Vinayagam by 8,482 votes.