The opposition INDIA bloc appears poised to challenge the ruling BJP in the bypolls for 13 seats across seven states. The INDIA bloc is leading in 7 out of the remaining 9 seats. These bypolls are seen as a crucial test for the BJP, which recently suffered a setback by failing to secure a majority in last month's Lok Sabha elections.
The vote counting began at 8 am in key constituencies across West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Bihar. These fiercely contested bypolls, held on July 10, are the first since the Lok Sabha elections, with the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc — comprising Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, and the Aam Aadmi Party — competing for the seats.
Here are some of the interesting trends:
AAP's Mohinder Bhagat emerged victorious in Punjab’s Jalandhar West seat, defeating his nearest rival, Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, by 37,325 votes. The by-polls were announced after AAP legislator Sheetal Angural switched allegiance to the BJP.
Himachal Pradesh is experiencing a Congress surge, with the ruling party’s candidates performing strongly in all three seats that went to bypolls. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu congratulated his wife, Kamlesh Thakur, for her victory in Dehra. Thakur defeated her nearest rival, BJP's Hoshiyar Singh, by a margin of 9,399 votes.
Hardeep Singh Bawa of the Congress defeated BJP’s KL Thakur in Nalagarh by 8,990 votes. In the Hamirpur seat, BJP candidate Ashish Sharma narrowly defeated Congress's Pushpinder Verma by a margin of 1,571 votes.
All three BJP candidates were formerly independent legislators who resigned from the Himachal assembly after voting for the saffron party in the Rajya Sabha polls earlier this year.
In West Bengal, where four seats are contested, Trinamool Congress's Madhupurna Thakur, Mukut Mani Adhikari, and Krishna Kalyani achieved landslide victories in Bagda, Ranaghat, and Raiganj, respectively. The ruling party's candidate was also leading in Maniktala after 13 rounds of voting.
Madhuparna Thakur, aged 25, and daughter of Trinamool's Rajya Sabha MP Mamatabala Thakur, is poised to become the youngest member of the Bengal assembly.
In Uttarakhand’s Manglaur, Congress candidate Qazi Nizamuddin was leading with 12,540 votes, followed by BSP nominee Ubedur Rehman, while BJP’s Gujjar leader Kartar Singh Bhadana trailed in a distant third place. The constituency experienced violence on the polling day.
In Badrinath, Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola was ahead, competing against BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari.
In Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi assembly constituency, early trends showed the ruling DMK's candidate Anniyur Siva (alias Sivashanmugam A) in the lead. He is competing against C Anbumani and Naam Tamilar Katchi's K Abinaya.
In Bihar, JD(U)'s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal was trailing by 5,069 votes behind his nearest rival, independent candidate Shankar Singh, in the Rupauli bypoll. RJD nominee Bima Bharti was in a distant third place.
The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who left JD(U) to contest the Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket.
In the Amarwara constituency of Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh, Kamlesh Pratap Shah of the BJP was leading by 1,747 votes over Congress' Dheeran Shah Invati.
The seat became vacant when three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah switched allegiance to the BJP in March. This outcome is closely monitored, given that Chhindwara was historically seen as a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.
