The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won the Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal. Its candidates, Hasirani Rath and Shankharavh Sarkar, beat their rivals by large margins.
In Nandigram, Rath defeated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan by 1,22,753 votes. She polled 1,64,427 votes, a 75.94 per cent share, while Pradhan received 41,674 votes, or 19.25 per cent of the votes polled.
Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari who was killed in May, days after the BJP won the state Assembly elections.
In Rejinagar, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar won with 1,29,914 votes. He defeated Golam Nabi Azad (Robin) of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), who got 54,098 votes. Sarkar’s winning margin was 75,816 votes.
Why the bypolls were held
The Rejinagar bypoll was necessary because AJUP chief Humayun Kabir vacated the seat. He had won both Rejinagar and Naoda in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and chose to keep Naoda.
The Nandigram bypoll followed Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s decision to vacate the seat and retain Bhabanipur. Adhikari had won both constituencies in the 2026 Assembly elections, and in Bhabanipur he defeated former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
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The contests were watched closely as an early electoral test for the BJP government, which ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in West Bengal earlier this year.
Hasirani Rath’s candidature in focus
Hasirani Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of Adhikari who was shot dead on May 6, two days after the Assembly election results were declared. The BJP fielded her in the bypoll after the seat fell vacant when Adhikari opted to retain Bhabanipur.
Trinamool support shifts to Congress
The Nandigram contest also saw changes in opposition alignments. Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the candidate of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction, withdrew from the race after meeting Adhikari. Banerjee then extended her support to Congress candidate Milan Pradhan.
Pradhan’s campaign was also disrupted by his arrest in September in connection with cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram agitation. He later obtained bail from the Calcutta High Court and returned to the constituency to campaign. Congress alleged irregularities and intimidation during polling and demanded a repoll. The BJP rejected the allegations.