The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the West Bengal Assembly bypolls on Friday, winning Nandigram by a record margin and scoring a surprise victory in the Muslim-majority Rejinagar seat, barely five months after ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in the state.
Record margin in Nandigram
In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath — the mother of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's slain personal assistant Chandranath Rath — defeated Congress nominee Milan Pradhan by a record 1,22,753 votes, according to the Election Commission of India. The bypoll was necessitated after Adhikari relinquished the seat, which he had won by 9,665 votes in the Assembly polls, choosing to retain Bhabanipur instead.
The BJP also registered a major breakthrough in Rejinagar, a Muslim-majority constituency in Murshidabad district. Its candidate Shankharavh Sarkar polled 1,29,914 votes against Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad's 54,098, winning by 75,816 votes. Sarkar secured around 63.14% of the votes while Azad received 26.29%. The result marks a sharp reversal: barely five months ago, AJUP chief Humayun Kabir had won the seat by nearly 59,000 votes.
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry go to TVK and AINRC
In Tamil Nadu, actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won both seats. Maragatham Kumaravel took Madurantakam with 74,048 votes, defeating DMK's I. Paranthamen (54,008 votes), while AIADMK's S. Kanitha Sampath finished third with 47,450 votes. TVK's Sathyabama won the Dharapuram seat. In Puducherry, the ruling All India N. R. Congress (AINRC), an NDA ally, won the Thattanchavady constituency.
In Assam, BJP candidate Devasish Sharma, a former IAS officer, established an unassailable lead of 1,76,391 votes over AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in the Nagaon Lok Sabha byelection, polling 6,61,259 votes against Ajmal's 4,84,868, with Congress nominee Sibamoni Bora a distant third at 1,17,060, according to ECI trends.
Reactions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the results showed the people had a "deep-rooted connect" with the BJP-NDA's good governance agenda, and congratulated the AINRC for its Puducherry win. DMK president M.K. Stalin called the Tamil Nadu outcome a "temporary victory for the politics of betrayal" and alleged the ruling party had used money, administrative and police power. TVK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay thanked voters, calling the wins a victory for the people and "political decorum", and claimed the party had won without distributing money or inducements. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the Rejinagar outcome demonstrated that minority voters were reposing their trust in the BJP government and were not being swayed by "misleading political narratives".
Sources:
- The Hindu: Bypoll results LIVE — BJP-NDA's victory shows 'deep-rooted connect', says PM Modi
- NDTV: By-Election Results 2026 LIVE — vote counting and winners
Record margin in Nandigram
In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath — the mother of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's slain personal assistant Chandranath Rath — defeated Congress nominee Milan Pradhan by a record 1,22,753 votes, according to the Election Commission of India. The bypoll was necessitated after Adhikari relinquished the seat, which he had won by 9,665 votes in the Assembly polls, choosing to retain Bhabanipur instead.
The BJP also registered a major breakthrough in Rejinagar, a Muslim-majority constituency in Murshidabad district. Its candidate Shankharavh Sarkar polled 1,29,914 votes against Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad's 54,098, winning by 75,816 votes. Sarkar secured around 63.14% of the votes while Azad received 26.29%. The result marks a sharp reversal: barely five months ago, AJUP chief Humayun Kabir had won the seat by nearly 59,000 votes.
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry go to TVK and AINRC
In Tamil Nadu, actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won both seats. Maragatham Kumaravel took Madurantakam with 74,048 votes, defeating DMK's I. Paranthamen (54,008 votes), while AIADMK's S. Kanitha Sampath finished third with 47,450 votes. TVK's Sathyabama won the Dharapuram seat. In Puducherry, the ruling All India N. R. Congress (AINRC), an NDA ally, won the Thattanchavady constituency.
In Assam, BJP candidate Devasish Sharma, a former IAS officer, established an unassailable lead of 1,76,391 votes over AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in the Nagaon Lok Sabha byelection, polling 6,61,259 votes against Ajmal's 4,84,868, with Congress nominee Sibamoni Bora a distant third at 1,17,060, according to ECI trends.
Reactions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the results showed the people had a "deep-rooted connect" with the BJP-NDA's good governance agenda, and congratulated the AINRC for its Puducherry win. DMK president M.K. Stalin called the Tamil Nadu outcome a "temporary victory for the politics of betrayal" and alleged the ruling party had used money, administrative and police power. TVK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay thanked voters, calling the wins a victory for the people and "political decorum", and claimed the party had won without distributing money or inducements. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the Rejinagar outcome demonstrated that minority voters were reposing their trust in the BJP government and were not being swayed by "misleading political narratives".
Sources:
- The Hindu: Bypoll results LIVE — BJP-NDA's victory shows 'deep-rooted connect', says PM Modi
- NDTV: By-Election Results 2026 LIVE — vote counting and winners
