BJP wins Nandigram and Rejinagar by-elections in West Bengal

The BJP won both West Bengal assembly by-elections as votes were counted Oct. 9. Its candidate also held a substantial lead in an Assam parliamentary contest in the reported counting figures.

Hasirani Rath defeated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in Nandigram by 122,753 votes, The Hindu reported, citing the Election Commission of India. Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, the slain personal assistant of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

In Rejinagar, a predominantly Muslim constituency in Murshidabad district, the BJP’s Shankharavh Sarkar received 129,914 votes. His nearest rival, Golam Nabi Azad of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, received 54,098. The winning margin was 75,816 votes.

The results came about five months after the BJP ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in West Bengal. In Puducherry, the governing All India N. R. Congress won Thattanchavady.

In Assam, former civil servant Devasish Sharma was leading in the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election at 5:20 p.m. local time. He had received 661,259 votes against 484,868 for AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal. Those were counting figures reported by The Hindu, rather than a final declared result.