Assembly bypolls results 2024: INDIA bloc wins 10 seats, BJP bags 2, Independent 1

INDIA bloc parties won 10 assembly seats, while the BJP clinched two and an Independent one, as votes were counted on Saturday for the by-elections held earlier this week on 13 seats in seven states.

In Punjab, Mohinder Bhagat of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the Jalandhar West seat by defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Sheetal Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes, the Election Commission (EC) said.

In Tamil Nadu, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Anniyur Siva emerged victorious in the Vikravandi Assembly constituency.

On the four seats in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Krishna Kalyani defeated BJP’s Manas Kumar Ghosh by a margin of 50,077 votes in the Raiganj assembly seat, and Mukut Nami Adhikari defeated BJP’s Manoj Kumar Biswas by 74,485 votes in Ranaghat Dakshin.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife and Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur defeated BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes to win the Dehra assembly seat.

The BJP won the Hamirpur seat with its candidate Ashish Sharma polling 27,041 votes against Congress’s Pushpinder Verma 25,470 votes, the website showed.

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP’s Kamslesh Pratap Shah won the Amarwara assembly seat by a margin of 3,027 votes against Congress’ Dheeran Sah Invati, while in Bihar, Independent candidate Shankar Singh won the Rupauli seat, defeating his nearest rival -- JD(U)‘s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal -- by a margin of 8,246 votes, the EC website showed.

-PTI

The Congress on Saturday hailed its gains in the assembly bypolls in Himachal Pradesh and BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, saying the results “reflect the changing political climate in the country”.

The Congress won both the assembly bypolls in Uttarakhand and in Himachal Pradesh, it secured two out of the three seats where bye-elections were held.

On the party’s victories in Uttarakhand, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a post on ‘X’, said, “Manglaur was wrested from the BSP and in the face of dirty tactics by the BJP. In Badrinath, the sitting MLA was a Congressman who had switched to the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls. He has been rightly punished by the people and the Congress has held on to the seat.” “Both ways the results reflect the changing political climate in the country,” he said.

-PTI

The Trinamool Congress continued its winning streak from the recent Lok Sabha elections by sweeping the West Bengal assembly bypolls on Saturday, wresting Raiganj, Bagda, and Ranaghat Dakshin seats from the BJP and securing a record victory margin in Maniktala.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates Krishna Kalyani, Madhuparna Thakur and Mukut Mani Adhikari won the Raiganj, Bagda, and Ranaghat Dakshin seats respectively, while Supti Pandey won in the Maniktala segment in Kolkata.

In Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Kalyani won by a margin of 50,077 votes over his nearest BJP rival Manas Kumar Ghosh.

Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of TMC Rajya Sabha MP and Matua leader Mamatabala Thakur, won by a margin of 33,455 votes over her rival Binay Kumar Biswas of the BJP in the Bagda assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district.

Mukut Mani Adhikari of the TMC defeated BJP nominee Manoj Kumar Biswas by 39,048 votes in Ranaghat Dakshin in North 24 Parganas.

-PTI

The BJP, which won only one of the three seats in the Himachal Pradesh assembly bypolls on Saturday, said that it accepts people’s mandate and would continue to fight for their welfare.

In a statement issued here, former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the party would look into the shortcomings which led to its defeat in the by-elections. “We accept the people’s mandate. Our fight for the welfare of the people of the state would continue from road to Vidhan Sabha,” he said. Resigning and switching to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) proved costly for former Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh and K L Thakur, who lost to Congress candidates in the Dehra and Nalagarh assembly seats, respectively.

BJP’s Ashish Sharma, however, managed to win the assembly bypoll from Hamirpur seat as he secured 1,571 votes more than nearest rival and Congress candidate Pushpender Verma.

-PTI

The Congress won the Manglaur assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand with its nominee Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin defeating the BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana by a slender margin of 422 votes.

This was the fourth win for Nizamuddin from the seat. In the past, he had won the seat twice on a BSP ticket and once as a Congress nominee. The BSP, which retained the seat in the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly election, was relegated to the third position in the bypoll with former party MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari’s son Ubaidur Rahaman getting 19,559 votes.

Mr. Nizamuddin got 31,727 votes and Mr. Bhadana 31,305 votes.

Resigning and switching to the BJP has proved costly for two Independent legislators of Himachal Pradesh who lost to Congress candidates from their seats. Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, defeated BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh for the Dehra seat by a margin of 9,399 votes.

Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate K. L. Thakur in the bypoll to the Nalagarh Assembly seat by 8,990 votes. Mr. Bawa is a five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president.

BJP’s Ashish Sharma, however, managed to win the Assembly bypolls from Hamirpur seat as he secured 1,571 votes more than nearest rival and Congress candidate Pushpender Verma. - PTI

Independent candidate Shankar Singh wins Rupauli bypoll in Bihar.

The independent candidate got about 68,070 votes while JD(U)’s nominee bagged 59,824 votes, according to the Election Commission website.

RJD’s Bima Bharti was in the third position as she secured 30,619 votes.

The byelection was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had won the seat for JD(U) several times but quit the party recently to contest the Lok Sabha election on an RJD ticket. Following her loss in the Parliamentary election, she contested the bypoll as an RJD candidate. - PTI

After a seesaw day of counting, BJP candidate Kamlesh Pratap Shah has won from the Amarwara Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara, defeating the Congress’ Dheeran Sah Invati by 3,027 votes, as per the Election Commission’s website. While Mr. Shah secured 83,105 votes, Mr. Invati bagged 80,078 votes in the closely fought election. Gondwara Gantantra Party’s Devraven Bhalavi remained third with 28,723 votes.

The outcome of the closely fought byelection comes as a fresh blow to the Congress and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath whose son Nakul Nath recently lost his family’s bastion of Chhindwara to the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls. The bypoll in Amarwara was necessitated after Mr. Shah, a three-term MLA and a former associate of Mr. Kamal Nath, jumped over to the BJP just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling DMK emerged victorious in the bypoll to the Vikravandi Assembly constituency by a margin of 67,757 votes and NDA constituent Pattali Makkal Katchi ended up runner-up with 56,296 votes.

All through the vote-counting exercise, DMK’s Anniyur Siva alias A. Sivashanmugam was in the lead position and the margin between him and his nearest rival, PMK nominee C. Anbumani widened round after round. By retaining the Vikravandi seat, the ruling DMK has continued to maintain its winning streak in the State since the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of DMK legislator N. Pugazhenthi in April this year. 

The Trinamool Congress won bypolls for all four Assembly seats in West Bengal in which elections were held on July 10. Trinamool Congress candidate Supti Pandey defeated BJP Kayan Chaubey by a margin of more than 62,312 votes from Maniktala Assembly constituency in Kolkata. The seat had fallen vacant in February 2022 after the death of State’s Minister Sadhan Pandey.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said the big margin of victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll shows that people are “very happy” with the State government’s work.

The bypoll was necessitated after Sheetal Angural resigned as the AAP legislator from the seat, and joined the BJP in March. AAP candidate Mohinder Bhagat defeated BJP’s Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes. While Mr. Bhagat polled 55,246 votes Ms. Angural secured 17,921, according to officials. Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, who was at the third spot, got 16,757 votes.

“Congratulations to all for Aam Aadmi Party’s great victory in the Jalandhar West Vidhan Sabha constituency by-elections. The victory with a big lead shows that people across Punjab are very happy with the work of our government. We will make Jalandhar West the ‘best’ as promised during the bypoll. Congratulations to Mohinder Bhagat ji,” Mr. Mann said in a post on X. - PTI

Congress’s Lakhpat Singh Butola won the Badrinath Assembly by-election, defeating his nearest rival former Minister and MLA BJP’s Rajendra Singh Bhandari by 5,224 votes.

In the poll held on July 10, a total of 54,228 votes were cast, out of which, 28,161 votes went to the Congress, while the BJP got 22,937 votes. Mr.Bhandari got 10,000 less votes this time than he did in the 2022 Assembly elections. Independent candidate Naval Kishor Khali finished third, with 1,813 votes. Himmat Singh of Sainik Samaj Party got 494 votes. - PTI

Independent candidate and former MLA Shankar Singh is leading in the Rupauli bypoll election in Bihar and likely to defeat JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Prasad Mandal and RJD candidate Bima Bharti. Last round of counting is underway and Mr. Singh is leading with 8204 votes, Mr. Mandal is in second position whereas Ms. Bharti is in third position. Mr. Singh was earlier MLA in 2005 on the ticket of the united Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). -- Amit Bhelari

After 20 rounds of counting, the DMK’s Anniyar Siva was declared the winner of Vikravandi assembly constituency. 

He defeated the PMK’s C. Anbumani by a margin of 67,757 votes. The Naam Tamilar Karachi’s Abinaya Ponnivalavan polled 10,602 votes

INDIA bloc parties won four Assembly seats and were leading on six, while the BJP clinched one, according to the trends on the EC website.

In Punjab, Mohinder Bhagat of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the State won the Jalandhar West seat by defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Sheetal Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes, the Election Commission (EC) said.

“In Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Anniyur Siva was ahead of PMK’s Anbumani C by 58,785 votes in the Vikravandi Assembly seat,” the website showed.

Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) Krishna Kalyani defeated BJP’s Manas Kumar Ghosh by a margin of 50,077 votes in the Raiganj Assembly seat, Mukut Nami Adhikari defeated BJP’s Manoj Kumar Bsiwas by 74,485 votes in Ranaghat Dakshin and Madhuparna Thakur defeated BJP’s Binay Kumar Biswas by 74,251 votes in Bagda.

In the Maniktala seat in the State, TMC’s Supti Pandey ahead of BJP’s Kalyan Choubey by 47, 827 votes, according to the EC.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife and Congress candidate Kamlesh Tahkur defeated BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes to win the Dehra Assembly seat. In Nalagarh, Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa won against BJP’s KL Thakur by 25,618 votes. - PTI

“Congress candidates for the Badrinath and Manglaur Assembly bypolls in Uttarakhand were leading in both the seats on July 13,” officials said. 

In the tenth round of counting, Congress’ Qazi Nizamuddin was leading by a slender margin of 422 votes over his nearest rival, BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana, in Manglaur. BSP’s Ubaidur Rahman, who was behind Nizamuddin at the second spot in the initial rounds of counting, is now trailing at the third spot in the seat.

The seat was with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but fell vacant after Rahman’s father and sitting MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari died in October 2023. In the Badrinath Assembly seat, Congress’ Lakhpat Singh Butola was also leading by 5,095 votes against BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari in the 15th round. - PTI

“BJP’s Kamlesh Shah wins Amarwara seat by defeating Congress’ Dheeran Shah Invati by more than 3,200 votes,” officials said.

“BJP’s Ashish Sharma won the bypolls to the Hamirpur Assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by defeating his nearest rival and Congress candidate Pushpender Verma by a margin of 1,571 votes on Saturday,” officials said.

Of the three seats, where bypolls were held the in the State on July 10, the BJP only won this constituency. Dehra and Nalagarh were won by the Congress, the ruling party in Himachal Pradesh. While Sharma polled 27,041 votes, Mr. Verma secured 25,470 votes.

However, Mr. Sharma’s margin has shrunk significantly as compared to the 2022 Assembly elections. As an Independent candidate, Mr. Sharma then had defeated Mr. Verma by 12,899 votes. - PTI

The Congress won the Dehra Assembly seat for the first time with its candidate Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, defeating BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes.

Ms. Thakur polled 32,737 votes in the bypoll against 23,338 votes polled by Mr. Singh. The three Independent candidates in this seat could not get even 200 votes each. Of the 86,520 voters in this Assembly segment, 65.42% exercised their franchise on July 10. - PTI

“After trailing for several rounds, BJP’s Kamlesh Shah is leading over his Congress rival Dheeran Shah Invati by 713 votes after the 18th round of counting in the bypoll in Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara Assembly constituency,” an official said.

With just two rounds of counting left, it appears that the Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat Amarwara is heading for a cliffhanger. “Mr. Shah polled 73,527 votes against Mr. Invati’s 72,814 after the 18th round of counting was completed,” the official said. “Devraman Bhalavi of the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) garnered 27,876 votes,” he said. - PTI

Punjab’s ruling party AAP retained the Jalandhar West Assembly seat as its candidate Mohinder Bhagat defeated BJP’s Sheetal Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes in a bypoll.

Mr. Bhagat polled 55,246 votes while Angural secured 17,921 votes, according to officials. Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, who was at the third spot, got 16,757 votes. Celebrations broke out at the residence of Bhagat in Jalandhar as his family members and supporters were ecstatic over the victory in the reserve Assembly constituency.

AAP activists burst firecrackers, distributed sweets and danced to the beats of ‘dhol’ over the victory of Mr. Bhagat. With this victory, the AAP will now have 91 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.

On his victory, Mr. Bhagat (66) said voters gave their mandate in favour of the AAP because of the works undertaken by the Bhagwant Mann-led dispensation. “From this result, it is clear that people are liking the works of the State government,” he said. - PTI

“Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate K L Thakur in the bypoll to the Nalagarh Assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh by 8,990 votes,” officials said.

Mr. Bawa, a five-time president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress’ Himachal Pradesh unit, polled 34,608 votes. - PTI

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) won Raiganj and Bagda Assembly seats and secured an unassailable lead in two other constituencies in West Bengal bypolls, continuing its winning streak a month after the party’s resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

TMC candidates Krishna Kalyani and Madhuparna Thakur won Raiganj and Bagda respectively, while Mukut Mani Adhikari and Supti Pandey were leading in Ranaghat Dakshin and Maniktala. In Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Mr. Kalyani won by a margin of 50,077 votes over his nearest BJP rival Manas Kumar Ghosh. Mr. Kalyani got 86,479 votes while Mr. Ghosh bagged 36,402.

TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of TMC Rajya Sabha MP and Matua leader Mamatabala Thakur, won by a margin of 33,455 votes over her rival Binay Kumar Biswas of the BJP in the Bagda Assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district. Madhuparna Thakur got 1,07,706 while Biswas secured 74,251. With this victory, the ruling party in West Bengal won Bagda after a gap of eight years.

TMC’s nominee Supti Pandey was leading by 31,441 votes in Maniktala in Kolkata over her nearest rival Kalyan Chaubey of the BJP. Mukut Mani Adhikari of the TMC was ahead of BJP nominee Manoj Kumar Biswas by 31,737 votes in Ranaghat Dakshin in North 24 Parganas. - PTI

A close contest is being witnessed on Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara Assembly seat with the BJP’s Kamlesh Pratap Shah currently leading with 713 votes against the Congress’ Dheeran Shah Invati. 

18 out of 20 rounds of votes have been counted, as per the Election Commission data.

TMC candidate Krishna Kalyani has won the Raiganj assembly seat in a bypoll in West Bengal by a margin of over 50,000 votes over his nearest BJP rival, Election Commission website said.

While Mr. Kalyani got 86,479 votes, his nearest rival Mr. Ghosh bagged 36,402.

Kalyani was a BJP MLA, however, switched to TMC. 

Trinamool Congress candidates were ahead of their rivals in by-polls held in four Assembly seats in West Bengal, according to the Election Commission of India website. The bypolls for Maniktala, Bagda, Ranaghat Dakshin and Raiganj Assembly seats were held on July 10.

TMC’s nominee Supti Pandey was leading by 28,781 votes in Maniktala in Kolkata over her nearest rival Kalyan Chaubey of the BJP, while in Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Trinamool Congress candidate Krishna Kalyani was ahead of Manas Kumar Ghosh of the saffron party by 50,023 votes.

TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur was leading by 20,884 votes over her rival Binay Kumar Biswas of the BJP in the Bagda Assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district. Mukut Mani Adhikari of TMC was ahead of BJP nominee Manoj Kumar Biswas by 30,081 in Ranaghat Dakshin seat in North 24 Parganas district. - PTI

Congress candidates for the Badrinath and Manglaur assembly bypolls in Uttarakhand were leading in both the seats on Saturday, officials said.

The counting of votes for the by-elections in the two assembly constituencies, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am.

Congress’ Qazi Nizamuddin was ahead by 87,365 votes against the BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana in the sixth round of counting in Manglaur.

BSP’s Ubaidur Rahman, who was behind Nizamuddin at the second spot in the initial rounds of counting, is now trailing at the third spot in the seat. - PTI

Chhindwara (MP), Jul 13 (PTI) Congress’ Dheeran Shah Invati has established a lead of 5,634 votes over BJP’s Kamlesh Shah after the 10th round of counting in Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara assembly constituency that went to bypoll on Wednesday, an official said.

Invati polled 41,161 votes against Shah’s 35,527 after the 10th round of counting was completed, the official said.

Devraman Bhalavi of the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) polled 16,710 votes.

The bypoll in Amarwara became necessary after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah crossed over to the BJP on March 29 this year.

BJP has fielded him as its candidate.

The byelection to this Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat in Chhindwara district is prestigious for both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress as Chhindwara was considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.

Congress (Shah) had won from Amarwara in the 2023 assembly elections, but the BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat this time by defeating Nath’s son Nakul Nath. - PTI

Punjab: AAP wins Jalandhar West seat 

Bihar: JD(U) leads from sole seat 

West Bengal: TMC leading in four seats 

Tamil Nadu: DMK leading from sole seat 

Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading in sole seat 

Uttarakhand: Congress leads in both seats 

Himachal Pradesh: Congress leads in 2, BJP in one

The DMK established an early lead in the by-election to the Vikravandi assembly constituency, counting of votes for which is underway at the counting centre in Panayapuram, Villupuram district, on Saturday, Jully 13, 2024.

DMK candidate Anniyur Siva was ahead of his nearest rival, PMK’s C. Anbumani by 19,668 votes after the fifth round of counting of votes. Read more

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of DMK MLA N. Pugazhenthi on April 6.

Congress candidates, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife, are in the lead in the two assembly constituencies of Dehra and Nalagarh, while the BJP candidate is ahead in Hamirpur, officials said on Saturday.

The counting of votes for the by-elections in all the three assembly constituencies, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am.

Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur was leading by 6,115 votes against her nearest rival and BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh in the Dehra assembly seat after the eighth round of counting, the officials said.

Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Bawa was also leading by 3,548 votes after the fifth round against the BJP candidate K L Thakur in the Nalagarh assembly seat, they officials said.

In the Hamirpur assembly seat, BJP’s Ashish Sharma, who was trailing in the first four rounds against Congress’ Pushpinder Verma, was now ahead by 743 votes after the fifth round. - PTI

AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat has won the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll by defeating BJP’s Sheetal Angural by margin of over 37,000 votes, officials said. - PTI

Trinamool Congress candidates were ahead of their rivals in bypolls held in four assembly seats in West Bengal, where counting began on Saturday morning, according to the Election Commission website.

The bypolls for Maniktala, Bagda, Ranaghat Dakshin and Raiganj assembly seats were held on July 10.

TMC’s nominee Supti Pandey was leading by 8,627 votes in Maniktala in Kolkata over her nearest rival Kalyan Chaubey of the BJP, while in Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Trinamool Congress candidate Krishna Kalyani was ahead of Manas Kumar Ghosh of the saffron camp by 21,393 votes.

TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur was leading by 12,444 votes over her rival Binay Kumar Biswas of the BJP in the Bagda assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district.

Mukut Mani Adhikari of the TMC was ahead of BJP nominee Manoj Kumar Biswas by 2,139 votes in Ranaghat Dakshin in North 24 Parganas. - PTI

Bihar: JD(U) leads from sole seat

West Bengal: TMC leading in four seats

Tamil Nadu: DMK leading from sole seat

Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading in sole seat

Uttarakhand: Congress leads in both seats

Punjab: AAP heading for victory from Jalandhar West seat

Himachal Pradesh: Congress leads in all three seats

AAP’s Jalandhar West assembly bypoll candidate Mohinder Bhagat appears to be heading for a victory from the seat in Punjab as he was leading by more than 23,000 votes against his nearest rival and Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, officials said on Saturday.

Bhagat, a leader of the ruling party in Punjab, was ahead by 23,240 votes after eight rounds of counting of votes that began at 8 am at the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women here. There will be a total of 13 rounds of counting.

BJP candidate Sheetal Angural was at the third spot, according to the trends.

Celebrations broke out at the residence of Bhagat in Jalandhar as his family members and supporters were ecstatic over the lead.

Bhagat has been maintaining lead in counting of votes from the first round of counting.

BSP nominee Binder Kumar was at the fourth spot while SAD’s Surjit Kaur was at fifth.

- PTI

Bihar: JD(U) leads from sole seat

West Bengal: TMC leading in four seats

Tamil Nadu: DMK leading from sole seat

Madhya Pradesh: BJP leading in sole seat

Uttarakhand: Congress leads in both seats

Punjab: AAP leads from sole seat

Himachal Pradesh: Congress leads in all three seats

The DMK on Saturday took early lead in the Vikravandi Assembly constituency, where the counting of votes polled in the July 10 bypoll was underway.

According to reports, DMK nominee Anniyur Siva was leading ahead of his nearest PMK rival, C Anbumani, by about 5,000 votes.

Read more on the Tamil Nadu bypoll results here...

Trinamool Congress candidates have taken an early lead over their rivals in by-polls held in four assembly seats in West Bengal, where counting began on Saturday morning, TV channels reported.

The bypolls for Maniktala, Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin, and Raiganj assembly seats were held on July 10.

However, there was no official word from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, as the EC website showed counting in progress.

Bengali news channel TV9 Bangla showed TMC leading in Maniktala in Kolkata, Ranaghat Dakshin, and Bagdah in North 24 Parganas, which are in South Bengal, and Raiganj in North Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district.

Another news channel, ABP Ananda, also broadcasted similar trends.

Read more on West Bengal bypoll results here...

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife and Congress candidate for the Dehra assembly bypoll Kamlesh Thakur was trailing by 557 votes against the BJP’s nominee for the seat on Saturday, officials said.

Dehra was one of the three assembly constituencies in the state where by-election was held on Wednesday. The others being Hamirpur and Nalagarh.

BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh was ahead of Kamlesh Takhur after three rounds of counting of votes that began at 8 am, the officials said.

In the Hamirpur assembly seat, Congress’ Pushpinder Verma was ahead by 200 votes against his nearest rival and BJP candidate Ashish Sharma after the first round of counting, the officials said.

Thirteen candidates were in the fray from the three seats.

Read more on the Himachal Pradesh results here...

AAP candidate for the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll in Punjab Mohinder Bhagat was leading against his nearest rival and Congress nominee Surinder Kaur, according to initial trends.

Bhagat was ahead of Kaur by 11,778 votes after four rounds of counting of votes that began at 8 am at the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women here.

BJP candidate Sheetal Angural was at the third spot, according to the trends.

BSP nominee Binder Kumar was at the fourth spot while SAD candidate Surjit Kaur at fifth. 

- PTI

The Congress’ candidates for the Badrinath and Manglaur bypolls in Uttarakhand were leading in both seats on Saturday, according to initial trends.

While Congress’ Lakhpat Singh Butola was leading by 195 votes against BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari in Badrinath, Congress’ Qazi Nizamuddin was ahead by 1,586 of BSP’s Ubedur Rehman.

BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana was in the third spot in Manglaur, a seat won thrice by Nizamuddin in the past.

- PTI

JD(U)‘s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal was leading by 2,433 votes over his nearest rival, an independent candidate, in the by-election to the Rupauli Assembly seat in Bihar’s Purnea district on Saturday, according to the election commission of India.

After the first round of counting, the JD(U) candidate secured 6,588 votes, while independent candidate Shankar Singh got 4,155 votes, according to the latest information uploaded on the Election Commission’s website.

RJD’s Bima Bharti is in the third position by securing 2,359 votes after the conclusion of the first round of counting.

- PTI

The byelection to the Vikravandi Assembly constituency in Villupuram district recorded 82.48% polling. The voting was largely peaceful, barring an altercation between PMK workers and security personnel and a knife attack on a woman voter.

The electoral fate of as many as 29 candidates including that of the DMK candidate Anniyur Siva, the PMK candidate C. Anbumani and the Naam Tamilar Katchi nominee Abinaya Ponnivalavan will be known when the final result of the bypoll will be out by Saturday evening.

- PTI

A turnout of 78.71% was recorded in the by-election for the Scheduled Tribe reserved constituency of Amarwara in Chhindwara district on Wednesday, the official said.

The fate of the nine candidates, including those from the BJP, Congress and Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), will be decided in the 20 rounds of counting. The by-election to this Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat in Chhindwara district was prestigious for both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, as Chhindwara was considered a stronghold of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath until recently.

Congress won the Amarwara seat in the 2023 assembly elections, but the BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat this time by defeating Nath’s son Nakul Nath. The Assembly by-election became necessary after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah crossed over to the BJP in March this year.

- PTI

Votes for the Manglaur and the Badrinath Assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand were polled on July 10. The bypoll to the Manglaur seat was marred by violence that left four people injured, even as a 67.28% polling was recorded in the constituency. The voter turnout in Badrinath was 47.68% and polling there remained peaceful.

The Manglaur bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting BSP MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari in October last year. The Badrinath seat fell vacant after sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned and switched to the BJP in March.

The BSP fielded Ansari’s son Ubedur Rehman against Congress nominee Qazi Nizamuddin in Manglaur. Gujjar leader and BJP nominee Kartar Singh Bhadana was also in the fray from the Muslim and Dalit-dominated constituency which has been held either by the BSP or the Congress in the past.

In Badrinath, there was a direct contest between BJP’s Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.

- PTI

Polling was held for the Dehra, Hamirpur and the Nalagarh Assembly constituencies on July 10.

Thirteen candidates, including of the BJP and the Congress, are in the fray. The Nalagarh assembly constituency had recorded the highest polling at 79.04%, followed by Hamirpur (67.72%) and Dehra (65.42%).

The overall voting percentage of the three bypolls was 71%, according to the data of the state election department The seats fell vacant after the three Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.

Their resignations, however, were accepted by the assembly speaker on June 3, and the seats were declared vacant, necessitating the by-elections.

The BJP fielded all the three former MLAs from their respective seats .The Congress fielded Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, from Dehra, repeated its candidate Pushpinder Verma from Hamirpur and gave ticket to five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president, Himachal Pradesh unit, Hardeep Singh Baba, from Nalagarh.

- PTI

Polling in the the Jalandhar West Assembly seat took place saw a voter turnout of 54.98%, a sharp drop from the 67% the Assembly segment saw in the 2022 Atate elections.

The Jalandhar West (Reserve) assembly constituency saw a multi-cornered contest among major political outfits like the ruling AAP in Punjab, the Congress and the BJP. Fifteen candidates were in the fray.

The seat fell vacant after Sheetal Angural resigned as the AAP legislator and joined the BJP in March.

The AAP fielded Mohinder Bhagat, the son of former minister and former BJP MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal, for the bypoll. The Congress placed its bet on Surinder Kaur, a former senior deputy mayor and a four-time municipal councillor of Jalandhar. The BJP fielded Angural, who had won this seat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls on an AAP ticket.

Though the Shiromani Akali Dal had fielded Surjit Kaur for the bypoll, the Sukhbir Badal-led outfit later withdrew its support and disowned her.

- PTI

The by-election to the Rupauli assembly seat in Bihar’s Purnea district saw a voter turnout of 52.75%.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had won the seat for JD(U) several times but quit the party recently to contest the Lok Sabha election on an RJD ticket .Following her loss in the parliamentary election, she contested the bypoll as an RJD candidate. The RJD hopes that Bharti will win the seat.

Altogether 11 candidates were in the fray in the bypoll, in which the JD(U) had fielded Kaladhar Prasad Mandal, who had contested the 2020 Assembly polls from the seat as an Independent.

- PTI