Bypoll results: Vote counting underway for 13 assembly seats
The counting of votes for the by-elections in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states is underway. The bypolls, conducted on July 10, are the first electoral exercise since the Lok Sabha elections. They were necessitated due to vacancies created by the deaths or resignations of incumbent members. The states that held these bypolls are Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
Assembly seats across multiple states
The assembly seats spread across the seven states include Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala in West Bengal; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Jalandhar West in Punjab; Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh; Rupauli in Bihar; Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu; and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh. Four of these states are ruled by parties that are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while the rest have a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
High stakes in West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh bypolls
In West Bengal, both the Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have high stakes. The TMC previously won the Maniktala seat in 2021, while the BJP secured Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, and Bagda. However, these BJP MLAs later switched to the TMC. Meanwhile in Himachal Pradesh, veterans and newcomers alike await their fate. Notably among them is Kamlesh Thakur from Dehra constituency who is married to Chief Minister and Congress's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Bypolls test leadership in Punjab, Bihar
The bypoll in Punjab's Jalandhar West is seen as a crucial test for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The ruling AAP, the BJP, and the Congress Party all contested this seat. AAP leader Sheetal Angural switched allegiance to the BJP, leaving the seat vacant. In Bihar, the byelection was held by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had previously won the seat for Janata Dal (United) but left to contest Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket.
Bypolls stir political waters in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh
In Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi assembly constituency, the bypoll was necessitated by the death of DMK legislator N Pughazhendhi, while in Madhya Pradesh, the Amarwara assembly seat saw a by-election after three-time Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah joined the BJP. The primary contenders for this Scheduled Tribes-reserved seat are BJP's Kamlesh Shah, Congress's Dheeran Shah Invati and Gondwana Gantantra Party's Devraman Bhalavi.
Bypolls follow 2024 Lok Sabha elections results
The recent bypolls were held after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In these elections, BJP won 240 seats, falling short of a majority by 32 seats. However, with its allies in the NDA, it managed to surpass the halfway mark of 272 with a total tally of 293 seats. On the other hand, the Congress-led INDIA bloc secured a total of 232 seats.
