Bypoll Results: Counting Begins in 6 Seats Across 4 States; Test for BJP, TVK and a Split Opposition

Votes are being counted for five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam, after polling on October 6. Postal ballots are counted first, followed by EVM votes, with results expected through the day.

WEST BENGAL: ADHIKARI'S HOME TURF

Nandigram is the marquee contest. It fell vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly election, chose to retain Bhabanipur. Nandigram is the seat tied to his political rise, and the contest is being watched as a gauge of the BJP's position in a constituency closely associated with his career.

The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath. Her son, Chandranath Rath, a former aide to Adhikari, was shot dead in May.

The opposition side is split. Congress's Milan Pradhan is backed by the TMC after its nominee withdrew. A rival TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has fielded Mohammad Etesamul Haque, and the CPI has fielded Shantigopal Giri.

The Congress-TMC arrangement is notable because the two parties are not formal allies in this seat.

Nandigram and Rejinagar recorded turnouts of 80.89% and 80%. The polling was shadowed by Humayun Kabir's detention, and the Congress has demanded repolling in both seats over alleged intimidation. Congress leaders alleged voter intimidation, booth capturing, proxy voting and EVM malfunction in Nandigram.

Rejinagar was vacated by AJUP chief Humayun Kabir, who retained Nowda. His son, Golam Nabi Azad, is the AJUP candidate against BJP's Sakharav Sarkar, TMC's Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, a rival TMC faction's Safiuzzaman Sheikh, Congress's Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi and CPI(M)'s Syed Asad Ali.

Kabir was himself pulled into a police vehicle on polling day. The Murshidabad SP said he was neither a candidate nor an authorised election agent. The seat is a contest for minority votes, and a split field helps the BJP.

ASSAM: NAGAON, A CONGRESS SEAT UP FOR GRABS

The Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, which saw 76.19% turnout, fell vacant when Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and joined the BJP. He later won the Dispur Assembly seat in the 2026 Assam election.

The contest features BJP's Debashish Sharma, Congress's former MLA Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal. There are 15 candidates, and the Congress held the seat in 2019 and 2024.

The split between the Congress and the AIUDF in a seat with a large minority vote is what the BJP needs to flip it. A BJP win would take a seat from the Congress's Lok Sabha tally. It would not change the national arithmetic, but it would be a symbolic win for the party over a defector's old seat.

TAMIL NADU: VIJAY'S FIRST TEST

The Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls were triggered when AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Satyabama resigned and joined the ruling TVK. TVK has fielded both defectors again. The results will give the first electoral reading of TVK since Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay led it to power in May.

In Madurantakam, 27 candidates are in the fray. The key names are TVK's Maragatham Kumaravel, DMK's I Paranthamen, AIADMK's Kanitha Sampath, CPI(M)'s P Suganthi and NTK's Janakiraman.

Turnout was 86.26% in Madurantakam and 80.30% in Dharapuram. Both were lower than in April's Assembly polls, when Madurantakam recorded 92.28% and Dharapuram 88.92%.

Tamil Nadu Revenue Minister KA Sengottaiyan, a former AIADMK heavyweight, has predicted a TVK win by a margin "unprecedented in the history of Tamil Nadu politics."

The stakes are lopsided. For TVK, winning with defectors is the expected outcome, and a slip would be read as a rebuke of the poaching. For the DMK and AIADMK, a loss would show they cannot hold ground against the new ruling party.

PUDUCHERRY: A LOCAL TEST

Thattanchavady was vacated by Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who won both it and Mangalam and kept Mangalam. Eleven candidates are in the fray, with the main contest between the ruling AINRC-led NDA, the Congress and the DMK.

Turnout was 80.81%, down from 87.20% in the main election.

With inputs from ANI