KOLKATA: BJP-nominated candidates are heading for landslide victories, widening their margins in the bypolls in the two high-voltage Assembly constituencies of Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal. Counting of votes in the two seats is underway on Friday, with trends indicating a comfortable win for the BJP.
BJP’s Hasirani Rath, contesting from Nandigram, the home turf of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Purba Medinipur district, was leading by more than 97,000 votes at the end of the 12th round of counting. Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was in second place, according to trends indicated by news channels.
The Left candidate was heading for third position, while the Democratic Trinamool Congress faction belonging to Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, suffered a setback, securing fifth place, according to the trends.
The Trinamool Congress faction belonging to former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee withdrew its candidate from the Nandigram contest and extended support to the Congress nominee.
In Rejinagar, a minority-dominated constituency in Murshidabad district, BJP candidate Sakharav Sarkar was leading by more than 70,000 votes after the eighth round. The Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), led by Humayun Kabir, the party chief and MLA from the Nawda seat in the district, was a distant second, while the Congress was in third place.
The Election Commission is yet to release official figures confirming the leads.
Counting began at 8 am amid tight security at the counting centres. The bypolls, held on Tuesday, are being watched as an early electoral test of West Bengal’s political landscape following the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections earlier this year.
Nandigram fell vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, retained the latter. The BJP fielded Rath, the mother of his slain personal assistant, Chandranath Rath.
In Rejinagar, the seat fell vacant after AJUP founder Humayun Kabir retained Nawda, where he had also won. His son, Gulam Nabi Azad, is contesting the bypoll.
Nandigram offers the more symbolically charged contest. The seat was the epicentre of Mamata Banerjee’s anti-land acquisition movement, which helped pave the way for the Trinamool Congress’s rise to power in 2011. It was also where BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari defeated Banerjee in 2021. Suvendu, now chief minister, won Nandigram again in the 2026 Assembly election but retained Bhabanipur, necessitating the bypoll.
Considering the significant Muslim vote share in Rejinagar and Nandigram, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had been offering a ‘hand of friendship’ to minority voters in the two constituencies.
Rejinagar in Murshidabad district has around 70 per cent minority voters, while in Nandigram, Suvendu’s home turf in Purba Medinipur, the figure is around 30 per cent.
Projecting himself as a leader for all, the chief minister, while addressing an election campaign in Nandigram last week, offered a message of friendship to woo Muslim voters, urging them to unite with the BJP in the Assembly bypoll held on October 6.
“I tell my minority brothers and sisters, do not turn your backs anymore. This is the opportunity for friendship. Let us all unite and ensure the win of the BJP candidate on 6 October,” he had said while campaigning for the BJP candidate.
“Will the minorities turn their backs on us? What will be the benefit of that? You are our friends. Let us be friends. The 6th is an auspicious day for friendship. Join hands to become friends. We will do it for the welfare of all. Our leader Narendra Modi ji works for everyone, and the chief minister will also do it for everyone. So you have to make friends,” Suvendu had added.
The BJP has nominated Hasirani from Nandigram, where former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was defeated by Suvendu in the 2021 Assembly elections. Chandranath was shot dead on May 6, two days after the BJP won the Assembly elections in the state. Hasirani’s candidature has added an emotional dimension to the contest.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction’s nominee, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her name after meeting Suvendu. Following this, Banerjee, left without a candidate, backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan and described the move as an effort to strengthen the INDIA bloc.
Pradhan was arrested in old cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram land-acquisition agitation but later secured interim bail and returned to campaign. The rival TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque under the envelope symbol and a separate temporary party identity. The CPI has nominated Santigopal Giri.
The Mamata Banerjee faction has announced that it will transfer its support to the Congress, while the BJP hopes to retain its Assembly advantage.
Rejinagar presents a different political equation. The seat fell vacant after Humayun Kabir, who won both Rejinagar and Nawda in the 2026 Assembly election, retained Nawda. His party has fielded his son, Golam Nabi Azad. Kabir had won Rejinagar by nearly 59,000 votes.
For the Mamata Banerjee faction, Rejinagar was a test of whether it could retain its traction after losing the original Trinamool Congress name and symbol following the Election Commission’s directive.