Ruling parties sweep polls as BJP wins Bengal seats, TVK wins in Tamil Nadu

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks during a press conference on the Cabinet’s decision at Lok Bhavan. File | Photo credit: ANI

The ruling parties won by-elections to five Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam.

The BJP won both the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly seats in West Bengal with a large margin.

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TVK candidates secured comfortable victories in Madurantakam and Dharapuram constituencies, while in Puducherry’s Thattanchavady, the ruling AINRC candidate won.

In the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, BJP candidate and former civil servant Devasish Sharma won by over 1.4 million votes. The BJP hailed the results, saying democracy had triumphed over “mobocracy”, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it once again showed that people had a deep-rooted connection with the BJP-NDA’s good governance agenda.

In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasi Rani Rath won with a record margin of over 1.22 lakh votes. BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar’s margin of victory in Rejinagar in Murshidabad district was more than 75,000 votes.

Reaching out to minorities

The results also showed the success of the BJP’s efforts to reach out to minority voters as about 70% of the voters in Rejinagar and 27% of the voters in Nandigram are Muslims. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP has got the support of 80% Muslims in Nandigram and over 60% in Rejinagar.

In Tamil Nadu, the ruling TVK improved its strength to 109 in the 234-member assembly, with both its candidates securing comfortable victories in the reserved constituencies of Madurantakam and Dharapuram. The bypolls in these constituencies were prompted by the resignation of AIADMK MLAs K. Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama, who later entered the fray on the ruling party’s ticket. While Ms. Kumaravel won by a margin of 20,040 votes, Ms. Sathyabama won with 9,471 votes. The DMK came second in both seats, while the AIADMK finished third.

In Puducherry’s Thattanchavady, the ruling AINRC candidate won by 13,358 votes, while the Congress candidate finished second. The seat fell vacant as Chief Minister Rangasamy resigned after retaining the other seat.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma released videos of the celebrations even before the results were formally declared in Nagaon. United Democratic Front of India leader and former MP Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal came second in Nagaon, while Congress candidate Sivamoni Bora came third.

In Nagaon, the poll was called after Pradyut Bordoloi, who won the 2024 seat on a Congress ticket, left the party to join the BJP. In Nandigram, the bypoll demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had won two seats in the last Assembly elections. He defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur and decided to retain the seat. In these elections, Aam Janata Party leader Unnayan and former minister Humayun Kabir won the Rejinagar and Nowda seats. He retained Nowda, which necessitated a by-poll in Rejinagar.

Published – 9 Oct 2026 22:44 IST