Friday's bypoll results handed comfortable wins to the parties in power across states. In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won both Dharapuram and Madurantakam. In West Bengal, the BJP swept Nandigram and Rejinagar by huge margins, while in Assam the party's candidate pulled far ahead in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll. In Puducherry, the ruling AINRC held Thattanchavady. Votes were counted on 9 October.

Tamil Nadu: TVK takes both seats from AIADMK's old turf

Both Tamil Nadu seats had been won by the AIADMK in the May 2026 Assembly election. Their MLAs, P. Sathyabama (Dharapuram) and K. Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam), later quit the AIADMK and the Assembly and joined the TVK, triggering the bypolls. Both returned as TVK candidates and won again.

  • Dharapuram: Sathyabama defeated the DMK's S. Suganya by close to 10,000 votes, with the AIADMK's K. Bhanumathi third.
  • Madurantakam: Maragatham Kumaravel beat the DMK's I. Paranthaman by a margin of well over 15,000 votes, with the AIADMK finishing third.

TVK ministers called the results an endorsement of the government's first four months in office. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami hit back, accusing the TVK of trying to build a majority by inducing opposition MLAs to switch sides.

The numbers matter. The two wins take TVK to 109 seats in the 234-member Assembly, still nine short of the majority mark of 118, so the government continues to rely on allies. Bypolls in five more vacant seats have been held up by legal proceedings.

West Bengal: BJP's big margins in Nandigram and Rejinagar

In Nandigram, the seat Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won in the May Assembly election but gave up to keep Bhabanipur, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath won by more than 1.2 lakh votes, one of the biggest margins the seat has ever seen.

In Rejinagar, a Muslim-majority seat in Murshidabad district, the BJP won by more than 70,000 votes. The runner-up was Golam Nabi Azad of the AJUP, son of party founder Humayun Kabir, who had won the seat in May but kept his other seat, Nowda.

Adhikari credited Muslim voters and women beneficiaries of the state's Annapurna Yojana for the margins, and said he had predicted that Nandigram would break his own record. Opposition parties, including the Congress, alleged irregularities in the polling.

Assam and Puducherry

In the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, BJP candidate Devasish Sarma was leading AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal by more than 1.7 lakh votes in the latest counts, with the Congress's Sibamoni Bora third. The seat fell vacant after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and won the Assembly election from Dispur on a BJP ticket. Turnout was 76.19%.

In Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy's AINRC retained Thattanchavady, with Ashok Anand defeating the Congress's E. Vinayagam by more than 8,000 votes. Nine candidates, including those of the DMK and CPI, lost their deposits.

Bypoll results at a glance

Dharapuram (Tamil Nadu)Won by TVK – P. Sathyabama
Madurantakam (Tamil Nadu)Won by TVK – K. Maragatham Kumaravel
Nandigram (West Bengal)Won by BJP – Hasirani Rath, margin over 1.2 lakh
Rejinagar (West Bengal)Won by BJP, margin over 70,000
Nagaon Lok Sabha (Assam)BJP's Devasish Sarma ahead by over 1.7 lakh in latest counts
Thattanchavady (Puducherry)Won by AINRC – Ashok Anand

What the results mean

Bypolls usually favour the ruling party, and Friday was no exception. Still, the results carry signals. In Tamil Nadu, the TVK has shown that its May victory was not a one-off and that defectors can win again on its symbol. The DMK finished second in both seats, ahead of the AIADMK, which will worry Palaniswami's party as it fights to stay relevant.

In Bengal, the size of the BJP's margins in its first bypolls since ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule suggests the new government is still enjoying a honeymoon. In Assam, a big win in Nagaon would strengthen the BJP's grip on central Assam and deal a blow to the AIUDF.

What happens next

The Election Commission will issue final certified results for each seat, and the winners will take oath in the coming days. In Tamil Nadu, attention now shifts to the five remaining vacancies, including Tiruchirappalli East, which Vijay vacated. Those results could decide whether the TVK can reach a majority on its own.

Also Read