BJP Sweeps Bengal Bypolls and Wins Nagaon; TVK Takes Tamil Nadu Seats as Counting Ends
Results of the 6 October bypolls to five Assembly seats and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, counted on 9 October, were led by BJP wins in West Bengal and Assam and TVK victories in Tamil Nadu.
Counting on 9 October for bypolls to one Lok Sabha and five Assembly seats across West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry produced wins for the BJP in Bengal and Assam, the Tamil Nadu Victory Party (TVK) in Tamil Nadu, and the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) in Puducherry, according to media reports. Polling was held on 6 October, as announced by the Election Commission of India on 7 September. All six seats had fallen vacant because sitting legislators resigned or chose to keep another seat.
In West Bengal, the BJP’s Hasi Rani Rath won Nandigram, the seat vacated by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had won two seats in the 2026 Assembly elections and retained Bhabanipur, ThePrint reported. Daily Jagran’s live coverage put Rath on 1,64,427 votes against 41,674 for Congress’s Milan Pradhan. In Rejinagar, vacated when Humayun Kabir resigned after also winning Nowda, the BJP’s Shankharav Sarkar secured about 1.29 lakh votes against 54,098 for Golam Nabi Azad of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, the same report said.
In Assam, the BJP’s Devasish Sharma won the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, according to The Sentinel. It reported that Sharma polled 7,10,622 votes, ahead of AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal on 5,70,413 and Congress’s Shivamoni Bora on 1,28,743, a margin of 1,40,209 votes. Congress had held Nagaon in 2019 and 2024, and the seat fell vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi left Congress for the BJP and won the Dispur Assembly seat. Different outlets gave differing margins during counting, so the Election Commission’s final figures remain the reference.
In Tamil Nadu, the TVK, which leads the state government, won both Assembly seats, Deccan Chronicle reported. In Dharapuram, P. Satyabama, who had resigned from the AIADMK seat she won in April–May before joining the TVK, defeated the DMK’s S. Suganya by roughly 9,000 votes, according to Daily Jagran. Madurantakam, vacated by K. Maragatham Kumaravel on a similar change of party, also went to the TVK. Political observers quoted by Deccan Chronicle said the results did not amount to an outright rejection of the Dravidian parties and that voters who backed the TVK for change might give the government more time.
In Puducherry, the AINRC, which leads the NDA government there, retained Thattanchavady, a seat vacated by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy after he kept the Mangalam constituency. Daily Jagran’s live blog reported that the AINRC’s Ashok Anand won by 8,482 votes over Congress’s E. Vinayagam.
Bypolls often reflect local factors, including the candidates’ own histories and party switches, and they do not change the overall balance of power in any legislature. Party leaders and analysts offered competing interpretations of the outcomes, and these remain claims rather than established findings.
