BJP wins both bypolls in West Bengal, makes gains in Muslim-majority seat
Shankharavh Sarkar defeats AJUP nominee by 75,816 votes in Rejinagar, while Hasirani Rath wins Nandigram by 1,22,753 votes
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (9 October) won both assembly by-elections in West Bengal, including in Muslim-majority Rejinagar, around four months after the party came to power in the state.
According to the latest Election Commission figures, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad by 75,816 votes in Rejinagar, in Murshidabad district, where Muslims account for nearly 70% of the electorate.
Azad is the son of AJUP founder Humayun Kabir.
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In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath defeated Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, who was supported by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, by 1,22,753 votes.
Rath secured 1,64,427 votes, while Pradhan received 41,674, according to the Election Commission.
The result in Rejinagar marks a significant win for the BJP in a constituency with a large Muslim electorate, while the Nandigram victory reinforces the party's position in a seat with major political significance in West Bengal.
The bypolls were held after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated Nandigram to retain Bhabanipur, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in the 2026 Assembly elections. Adhikari had won both constituencies.
Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close aide to Adhikari who was killed in May, days after the BJP won the state Assembly elections. Her candidacy drew attention as she contested the seat vacated by the chief minister.
In Nandigram, the opposition contest was marked by a shift in support. The candidate fielded by Banerjee's Trinamool Congress faction, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew after meeting Adhikari, following which Banerjee backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan.
The Rejinagar bypoll was necessitated after AJUP chief Humayun Kabir won both Rejinagar and Naoda in the 2026 Assembly elections and chose to retain Naoda.
The twin victories provide an early electoral test for the BJP government, which ended the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in West Bengal earlier this year.
