Assembly bypolls in 15 states: BJP, allies bag over half the seats, TMC sweeps West Bengal
NEW DELHI: Giving a boost to BJP and its allies in bypolls at 48 assembly seats across 15 states, NDA emerged the dominant force, securing 26 seats.
Among the big wins was UP's Kundarki constituency, which BJP picked up after 31 years. The seat had remained an SP stronghold since 2012.
Continuing its dominance in Assam, BJP-led NDA secured all five seats, while the lone seat of Gambegre in Meghalaya was won by its ally NPP. BJP won Samaguri - a Congress bastion since 2001- for the first time with party nominee Diplu Ranjan Sarmah defeating Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain's son Tanzil Hussain.
Among the big wins was UP's Kundarki constituency, which BJP picked up after 31 years. The seat had remained an SP stronghold since 2012.
Continuing its dominance in Assam, BJP-led NDA secured all five seats, while the lone seat of Gambegre in Meghalaya was won by its ally NPP. BJP won Samaguri - a Congress bastion since 2001- for the first time with party nominee Diplu Ranjan Sarmah defeating Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain's son Tanzil Hussain.
Congress was somewhat redeemed by news from Karnataka and Punjab. In Punjab, while AAP retained three out of four seats, Congress wrested Barnala from AAP.
In Karnataka, Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai family respectively, lost, as the ruling Congress swept all three bypolls, including wresting Channapatna from JD(S). This seat was held by former CM H D Kumaraswamy in 2023 before he vacated it after winning the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Congress' C P Yogeeshwara won the Channapatna segment defeating Nikhil Kumaraswamy, while Bharath Bommai lost to Congress' Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan in Shiggaon.
In Sikkim, Aditya Golay (Tamang) and Satish Chandra Rai, both from Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), won uncontested.
The bypoll results highlight a fragmented political landscape, with regional parties like TMC and AAP continuing to assert their influence, and BJP continuing its dominance in Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
There were nine bypolls in all in Uttar Pradesh with BJP winning six seats and its ally RLD securing another. SP continued its dominance in its stronghold of Karhal (since 1993) and Sishamau (since 2012). In West Bengal, TMC swept all six seats in the state, including wresting Madarihat from BJP.
The two Parliamentary bypolls saw contrasting Congress victories. While Priyanka Gandhi won the Wayanad seat in Kerala vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi with a staggering margin, Congress candidate Ravindra Chavan scraped through after defeating BJP's Santukrao Marotrao Hambarde in a keen contest in Nanded in Maharashtra.