Tamil Nadu’s ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) consolidated its lead in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly bypolls on Friday, October 9, while the AINRC retained the Thattanchavady seat in Puducherry with a victory margin of 8,482 votes. Meanwhile, BJP candidates widened their leads in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies, while the party was also ahead in Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll.
In Puducherry, AINRC candidate Ashok Anand won the Thattanchavady bypoll, defeating his nearest Congress rival, E Vinayagam, by 8,482 votes. Anand secured 13,358 votes, while Vinayagam polled 4,876 votes. The DMK’s K Sethu alias Sethuselvam finished third with 2,664 votes, according to Election Commission figures.
The result marks an electoral victory for the ruling AINRC government months after it assumed office. Thattanchavady was considered a stronghold of party founder and Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who vacated the seat after winning from both Thattanchavady and Mangalam in the April 9 elections.
TVK Strengthens Position In Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, TVK candidates maintained their advantage in both constituencies, with the results being closely watched as an early electoral test for Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s government.
In Madurantakam, TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel remained ahead after several rounds of counting. Her margin exceeded 10,000 votes by the eigth round, while DMK candidate I Paranthamen and AIADMK nominee S Kanitha Sampath occupied the second and third positions, respectively.
In Dharapuram, TVK candidate P Sathyabama recovered after initially trailing AIADMK’s K Bhanumathi and moved into the lead by more than 8,800 votes. The DMK’s S Suganya then moved into second place, pushing the AIADMK candidate to third.
TVK’s performance is important for its minority government, which has 107 MLAs, including the Speaker, in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. The simple majority mark is 118, while the effective strength of the House stands at 227 following resignations.
A victory in the bypolls would increase the ruling party’s strength and provide a boost ahead of expected by-elections to five more Assembly constituencies. The results are also being watched as a test for the DMK and AIADMK, which are contesting from separate political fronts.
BJP Widens Leads In West Bengal
In West Bengal, BJP candidates recorded substantial leads in Nandigram and Rejinagar, according to Election Commission trends. In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath was leading by over 97,000 votes. She had secured 1,32,052 votes, compared with 34,530 for Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. CPI candidate Santi Gopal Giri was in third place with 5,020 votes.
Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, the slain personal assistant of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The seat fell vacant after Adhikari retained Bhabanipur, having won both constituencies in the Assembly elections.
In Rejinagar, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar was ahead by 37,506 votes after seven rounds. He had received 61,386 votes, while Aam Janata Unnayan Party candidate Golam Nabi Azad, son of party chief Humayun Kabir, secured 23,880 votes.
BJP Leads In Assam’s Nagaon
In Assam, BJP candidate Devashish Sharma was leading by 82,988 votes over AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, according to the latest reported trends. The by-election was necessitated after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and later contested the Assembly elections from Dispur on a BJP ticket. The Election Commission has scheduled the entire by-election process to be completed before October 11.
