AAP gains in bypolls; Cong, BJP win seats
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
AAP gains in bypolls; Cong, BJP win seats
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won two seats, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) won one each. But celebrations in West Bengal were marred by the death of a 13-year-old girl after a crude bomb was hurled allegedly by TMC workers. Police arrested one person and chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the incident. Bypolls are usually localised contests where turnouts are lower than regular elections and which are dominated by incumbents. They are not indicative of the wider mood of the state, but can generate interest especially in the run-up to assembly polls – as is the case in Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala, all of which go to the polls next year. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) scored an impressive victory in Nilambur. Riding on what he claimed was a wave of anti-incumbency sentiments against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Shoukath beat LDF’s M Swaraj by 11,077 votes.
But celebrations in West Bengal were marred by the death of a 13-year-old girl after a crude bomb was hurled allegedly by workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) during a victory procession. Police arrested one person and chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the incident.
The AAP held on to the Visavadar seat in Gujarat with former state unit chief Gopal Italia defeating BJP’s Kirit Patel by 17,581 votes. In the high-profile Ludhiana West bypoll in Punjab, AAP candidate and former Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora defeated former minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu by 10,637 votes.
Arora’s victory fuelled speculation that the vacant Rajya Sabha seat could be filled by party chief Arvind Kejriwal, but the former Delhi chief minister denied the rumours.
“I want to tell you I am not going to the Rajya Sabha. The political affairs committee of the party will decide whom to nominate,” he told reporters in Delhi.
The BJP won the Kadi seat and the TMC the Kaliganj seat in West Bengal. The Congress snatched the Nilambur seat from the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Bypolls are usually localised contests where turnouts are lower than regular elections and which are dominated by incumbents. They are not indicative of the wider mood of the state, but can generate interest especially in the run-up to assembly polls – as is the case in Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala, all of which go to the polls next year.
In Visavadar, the bypoll was necessitated by AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani’s resignation in December 2023, after which he joined the BJP. The BJP has not won the seat in 18 years.
“In Gujarat, BJP fights elections using power, money, administration and every trick possible – hence it is not easy to win against them. But the double margin victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Visavadar shows that now the public is fed up with the 30 years of misrule of BJP. Gujarat is now on the path of change,” Kejriwal said on X.
In Kadi, a constituency reserved for scheduled castes, BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda won with a margin of 39,452 votes over Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda. The bypoll followed the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki in February 2025. Kadi has long been a BJP bastion. The Kadi constituency, part of the Mehsana Lok Sabha seat, is a BJP stronghold.
“This is the victory of all voters… The party gave me a ticket after 40 years and the public also made me victorious by a margin of about 40,000 votes,” Chavda said.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) scored an impressive victory in Nilambur, wresting the seat from the LDF and gaining momentum ahead of assembly polls. Riding on what he claimed was a wave of anti-incumbency sentiments against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, UDF’s Aryadan Shoukath beat LDF’s M Swaraj by 11,077 votes.
“For the past nine years, the people of Nilambur had been neglected. It is their victory. It shows the public anger against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government,” Shoukath said.
While Shoukath, son of eight-time MLA and veteran Congress leader Aryadan Mohammed, got 77,737 votes, Swaraj, a former lawmaker and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretariat, received 66,660 votes.
PV Anvar, a former two-time MLA who left the LDF fold following differences with Vijayan and fought as an independent, dented the vote-banks of both coalitions and garnered 19,760 votes to end up third. The BJP’s Mohan George, who was fielded to shore up Christian votes, could only gain 8,648 votes and ended fourth. The seat fell vacant after Anvar resigned as an MLA.
Though Nilambur, located in Malappuram district, is largely viewed as an UDF stronghold, it ended up in the LDF kitty in 2016 and 2021 because of Anvar. This is the first time since 2021 that the UDF has wrested a seat that belonged to the LDF in a bypoll.
Leader of the Opposition and UDF chairman VD Satheesan said the Nilambur win gives the UDF enough fuel to clinch a victory in the 2026 assembly elections. “This win is the result of the hard work of team UDF. We have become the strongest political coalition in Kerala today. We promised the voters that if we win Nilambur, we will come to power in 2026. We will keep that promise,” said Satheesan.
In West Bengal’s Kaliganj, Alifa Ahmed, the TMC candidate, won by 50,049 votes. Ahmed received 1,02.759 votes, and Ashish Ghosh, the BJP candidate, got 52,710 votes. The byelection was necessitated after the sudden demise of the former TMC lawmaker and Alifa’s father Nasiruddin Ahmed in February. The TMC has held the seat since 2011.
Bengal goes to the polls next year.
“In the by-election of the Kaliganj assembly constituency, people from all religions, castes, communities, and all walks of life have overwhelmingly blessed us by exercising their voting rights. I humbly express my gratitude to them,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee said.
During the victory procession, a 13-year-old girl died when a crude bomb was hurled allegedly by TMC workers. In the evening, police arrested a local resident, Adar Ali Sheikh, 28. Speaking on condition of anonymity, locals said the accused was a TMC worker and the victim’s parents were Left supporters.
“Today, a 13-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries sustained from an explosion in the Kaliganj PS area of Krishnanagar police district. We shall spare no stone unturned to nab the culprits who were behind the incident,” the police said in a statement.
In Ludhiana West, AAP celebrated its victory in a high-stakes contest. “The significant lead in the win reflects that the people of the state are satisfied with our government’s work. We will prioritise fulfilling every promise made to the people of Punjab,” said chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The seat fell vacant after the ruling party’s sitting MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gog died in January
The Congress emerged as a divided house with state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring missing from several campaign events. Ashu accepted full responsibility for the defeat and resigned as the working president of the state Congress. “I firmly believe that the entire Congress stood by me throughout. I congratulate Sanjeev Arora,” he said.