By-polls: Ruling parties hold sway in states

Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly by-election results declared on Saturday, with the BJP and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.

Out of the 46 seats where byelections were held, the BJP and its allies won 26, a gain of nine seats, followed by Congress with seven -- a loss of six seats.

The Trinamool Congress won six, the Aam Aadmi Party three and the Samajwadi Party two seats. The LDF in Kerala and BAP in Rajasthan got one each.

Apart from this, two seats in Sikkim were won unopposed by Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidates.

In the bypolls to two Lok Sabha constituencies, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi cruised to her maiden electoral victory from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala with a margin of over 4.1 lakh votes against CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, but the party lost Nanded in Maharashtra to the BJP.

After the reverses in the Lok Sabha election, the ruling BJP-led alliance secured its hold over the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh with its candidates winning seven out of nine seats. The BJP retained four seats -- Ghaziabad, Khair, Majhawan and Phulpur -- and wrested Katehari and Kundarki from the SP while its ally RLD retained one. The Samajwadi Party, which had four of these seats, retained Sishamau and Karhal.

The ruling BJP won five of the seven seats in Rajasthan, wresting three from Congress and one from the RLP. The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and the Congress retained one seat each.

In a boost to the Bhagwant Mann-led government, the ruling AAP in Punjab wrested Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal assembly segments from the Congress, which ousted AAP from Barnala.

The ruling NDA in Bihar swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj (HAM) and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari (BJP), Ramgarh (BJP) and Belaganj (JD-U), receiving a boost ahead of the assembly elections due next year.

The TMC trounced the opposition in West Bengal, retaining five seats and wresting Madarihat from the BJP, further cementing its political dominance in the state despite the the ongoing protests over the RG Kar incident.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the results of the byelections would help her work for the people.

"I would like to thank and congratulate the 'Maa, Mati and Manush' from the bottom of my heart. Your blessings will help us work for the people in the coming days. We all are common people and that is our identity. We are not zamindars, but the custodians of the people," she posted on X.

The ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya also got a boost as party candidate and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma's wife Mehtab Chandee Agitok Sangma wrested the Gambegre seat from Congress.

The Congress won the byelections to all three assembly seats in Karnataka, wresting one each from the BJP and its ally JD(S). In Kerala, it retained the Palakkad assembly seat while the ruling LDF maintained its hold in Chelakkara assembly seat.

Giving credit to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's leadership as well as the five guarantees for the Congress party’s success, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said it was a prelude to the 2028 assembly election where the party would once again win.

The BJP long with its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United Peoples' Party Liberal (UPPL) won all five assembly constituencies in Assam.

The AGP and UPPL retained the Bongaigaon and Sidli (ST) constituencies, respectively. The BJP retained Behali and Dholai (SC), and wrested Samaguri from the Congress.

The ruling BJP wrested the Vav assembly constituency in Gujarat from the Congress and retained the Raipur City South assembly seat in Chattisgarh and Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand.

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP retained the Budhni seat, where byelection was necessitated following the resignation of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but suffered a setback as state minister Ramniwas Rawat lost in the Vijaypur assembly seat with the Congress retaining the seat.

Rawat had won the seat on a Congress ticket in the 2023 assembly polls but then switched over to the BJP, which made him forest minister in the Mohan Yadav government. He had won from Vijaypur in Sheopur district as a Congress candidate in 1990, 1993, 2003, 2008 and 2013 as well.

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidates Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai were on Saturday elected unopposed in the bypolls to Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang assembly constituencies, officials said.

The assembly bypolls were held in nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five seats in Assam, four seats each in Punjab and Bihar, three seats in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya.

(With inputs from PTI)