Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered sweeping victories in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly bypolls in West Bengal and the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam on Friday, October 9. Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) also secured victories in the Dharapuram and Madurantakam Assembly bypolls in Tamil Nadu, while the ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC) won the Thattanchavady seat in Puducherry.
In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasin Rani Rath, mother of Chandranath Rath, a former aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, defeated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan by a massive margin of 1,22,753 votes. Rath secured 1,64,427 votes, while Pradhan received 41,674 votes, according to Election Commission of India data. Communist Party of India candidate Santi Gopal Giri secured 5,779 votes, while All India Secular Front candidate Ali Mohammed Sabse Miraj Khan received 1,607 votes.
The BJP also recorded a decisive victory in Rejinagar, where its candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated Aam Janata Unnayan Party nominee Golam Nabi Azad, also known as Robin, by 75,816 votes. Sarkar polled 1,29,914 votes, accounting for 63.14 per cent of the votes, while Azad received 54,098 votes, or 26.29 per cent.
Congress candidate Abdullahil Kafi finished third with 6,168 votes, followed by Trinamool Congress nominee Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with 3,847 votes. Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate Md Sayeed secured 3,797 votes, while Democratic Trinamool Congress candidate Saifuzzaman Saikh received 2,044 votes.
In Tamil Nadu, TVK won both the Dharapuram and Madurantakam Assembly bypolls, marking a significant electoral test for the party after it came to power in the 2026 Assembly elections with 108 seats.
In Dharapuram, TVK candidate P Sathyabama defeated Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) nominee S Suganya by 9,471 votes. Sathyabama secured 66,841 votes, or 37.02 per cent, while Suganya received 57,370 votes, or 31.78 per cent. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate K Banumathi finished third with 45,280 votes, accounting for 25.08 per cent.
The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of AIADMK MLA P Sathyabama, who later joined the ruling TVK. In the previous Assembly election, the AIADMK candidate had won the seat with 48.56 per cent of the votes, while TVK candidate Gowri Chitra secured 23.23 per cent.
TVK also won the Madurantakam Assembly bypoll, with its candidate K Maragatham Kumaravel defeating DMK nominee I Paranthamen by 20,040 votes. Kumaravel received 74,048 votes, accounting for 39.96 per cent, while Paranthamen polled 54,008 votes, or 29.15 per cent. AIADMK candidate S Kanithasampath finished third with 47,450 votes, or 25.6 per cent. A total of 27 candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 86.26 per cent on October 6.
In Puducherry, AINRC candidate Ashok Anand won the Thattanchavady Assembly bypoll by a margin of 8,482 votes, defeating Congress candidate E Vinayagam. Anand secured 13,358 votes, while Vinayagam received 4,876 votes. DMK candidate K Sethu, also known as Sethuselvam, finished third with 2,664 votes. The result marked a significant victory for the ruling AINRC in a constituency previously represented by Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
In Assam, BJP candidate Devasish Sharma won the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll with 7,14,349 votes. All India United Democratic Front candidate Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal finished second with 5,72,125 votes, while Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora came third with 1,29,492 votes.
The results saw the BJP strengthen its position in the West Bengal and Assam contests, while Vijay’s TVK registered victories in two Tamil Nadu constituencies. The AINRC also retained its advantage in Thattanchavady, delivering a clear win in the Puducherry bypoll.