By-elections to assembly seats in Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal, and Kerala on Monday delivered mixed results, with AAP gaining ground, TMC set to retain its seat in Bengal, and the Congress-led UDF scoring a key victory in Kerala.
Kerala: UDF snatches Nilambur seat
In a severe blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala, the opposition UDF on Monday surged ahead in the Nilambur Assembly by-election and was on the verge of victory as counting neared completion.
UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath, son of Congress veteran Aryadan Muhammed, secured a lead of 11,077 votes over CPI(M)’s M Swaraj.
The bypoll was widely seen as a mid-term referendum on the LDF government. Independent candidate P V Anvar, the former legislator whose resignation triggered the bypoll, surprised many with his strong performance, securing over 18,000 votes. The BJP candidate, Mohan George, lagged far behind.
Celebrations erupted in Nilambur and across the UDF camp, with Congress leaders hailing the result as a sign of growing public support ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
West Bengal: TMC registers landslide victory in Nadia's Kaliganj
In West Bengal’s Kaliganj assembly seat, TMC candidate Alifa Ahmed won the bypolls to the Kaliganj Assembly seat by a landslide margin of 50,049 votes over her nearest BJP rival Ashish Ghosh.
After the final 23rd round of counting, Alifa bagged 1,02,759 votes compared to Ghosh who finished the race with 52,710 votes, according to figures posted by the Commission on its website.
The Left-supported Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh came in third with 28,348 votes.
Although Alifa secured about 9,000 votes less than the 1,11,696 votes that her father had bagged in 2021, her winning margin surpassed the 46,987 margin of Nasiruddin four years ago seemingly because of a tighter division of votes between her two closest challengers.
The bypoll was held following the death of Nasiruddin Ahamed in February. Voting saw a turnout of 69.85 per. Barring a few isolated incidents, voting remained largely peaceful.
Punjab: AAP wins Ludhiana West seat
In Punjab’s Ludhiana West, AAP's Sanjeev Arora wins Ludhiana West Assembly seat, defeating Cong's Bharat Bhushan Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes.
The BJP’s Jiwan Gupta was in the third position, followed by Shiromani Akali Dal’s Parupkar Singh Ghuman.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi earlier this year.
Voter turnout for the seat stood at 51.33 per cent, a significant drop from the 64 per cent registered in the 2022 assembly elections.
Gujarat: AAP wins Visavadar seat, BJP holds Kadi
AAP leader Gopal Italia won the Visavadar seat, while BJP's Rajendra Chavda bagged Kadi seat on Monday, as counting for bypolls to the two constituencies in Gujarat concluded, officials said.
Italia, the former Gujarat president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), defeated his nearest rival, BJP candidate Kirit Patel, in Visavadar seat of Junagadh district by a margin of 17,554 votes.
While Italia received 75,942 votes, Patel got 58,388 votes after the end of total 21 rounds of counting, as per the data shared by the Election Commission.
BJP leaders earlier said they were hoping to break the 18-year jinx in Visavadar, where the party last tasted victory in 2007.
Meanwhile, in the SC-reserved Kadi seat, BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda was leading by over 35,000 votes against Congress' Ramesh Chavda after 16 rounds of counting. The seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki in February.
In Kadi seat of Mehsana district, reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates, BJP's Rajendra Chavda emerged victorious by a margin of 39,452 votes over Congress' Ramesh Chavda after the end of all 22 rounds of counting.
While Rajendra Chavda received 99,742 votes, former Congress MLA Ramesh Chavda managed to secure 60,290 votes.
(With inputs from PTI)
