The Aam Aadmi Party has won the Visavadar Assembly bypoll in Gujarat in its first major electoral outing since losing the Delhi election to the Bharatiya Janata Party in February.

The win means the AAP has re-asserted its hold over a seat it won in the 2022 election, only to see the then-winner, Bhupendra Bhayani, cross to the BJP.

The AAP also retained the Ludhiana West seat in Punjab, a state where it is in power.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led United Democratic Front picked up the Nilambur seat in Kerala and West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress is set to retain the Kaliganj seat.

The BJP has retained the Kadi seat in Gujarat.

Visavadar Bypoll

The election was prompted by the resignation of Bhupendra Bhayani, who won this seat in the 2022 election. Then he beat the BJP’s Harshadkumar Ribadiya by nearly 7,000 votes.

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Three years ago, Mr Bhayani was one of five AAP leaders to have claimed Assembly berths, a notable achievement for Arvind Kejriwal’s party on its electoral debut in the state.

However, within a year he quit and joined the BJP.

READ | “My Homecoming”: Ex AAP MLA Bhayani Joins BJP In Gujarat

He did not, however, contest this poll. Instead, Kirit Patel was the saffron party’s pick to win a seat the BJP has not held since 2007 and was at the centre of the 2015 Patidar agitation.

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But Mr Patel could not deliver.

The AAP’s Gopal Italia won by over 17,500 votes and state boss Isudan Gadhvi predicted a victory in 2027. “If there is anyone who can defeat the BJP, it is AAP… we are going to form the government.”

Nilambur Bypoll

In Kerala the Congress-led UDF has won back a seat it held, thanks to Aryadan Mohd, from 1987 to 2011. Aryadan Shoukath – a popular film producer and, crucially, the former party veteran’s son – defeated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate M Swaraj by over 11,000 votes.

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The Nilambur seat had been won by independent lawmaker PV Anvar in 2016 and 2021, but he stepped down in January after his new party, the Democratic Movement of Kerala, merged with the Trinamool Congress. Mr Anvar is now the Trinamool’s Kerala unit boss.

The win is a shot-in-the-arm for the Congress before next year’s full election, particularly because it is in the Wayanad parliamentary constituency that is held by Priyanka Gandhi.

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Kaliganj Bypoll

Similarly, victory for the Trinamool in Kaliganj will be a boost before a high-stakes showdown with the BJP, also in 2026. At 3.45 pm Alifa Ahmed was leading the BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by over 50,000 votes, making a victory for Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee’s party almost certain.

The Kaliganj bypoll had been made necessary by the death of the sitting MLA, the Trimamool’s Nasiruddin Ahmed, who was a two-time MLA from that seat. Alifa Ahmed is his daughter.

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Assembly Bypoll Results Live | BJP, AAP Win 1 Each In Gujarat, Congress In Kerala

Kaliganj is a mainly Muslim seat; the Muslim population here is around 54 per cent, and this demographic stat could play a big role in next year’s election, both here and across the state.

Ludhiana West Bypoll

The AAP went all-out to ensure it held on to this seat, with Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia among those campaigning for Sanjay Arora.

The pressure worked; Mr Arora defeated the Congress’ Bharat Ashu by a little over 10,000 votes.

The seat – won six times by the Congress in the past and never by the BJP – had been vacant because the previous winner, the AAP’s Gurpreet Gogi, died in January.

The win underlines continuing friction between the AAP and Congress, who are, on paper, allies as they are part of the INDIA bloc.

Kadi Bypoll

In Kadi the BJP’s Rajendra Chavda thumped the Congress’ Ramesh Chavda by nearly 40,000 votes. The BJP has therefore retained a seat it has held since 2017, when Karshan Solanki won it. Mr Solanki won it in 2022 also.

The bypoll was necessary because he died in February.

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