West Bengal, Gujarat Bye-Election Result 2024 Live Updates: No RG Kar effect, Mamata’s TMC sweeps bye-elections; BJP wins Vav bypoll in close contest

The TMC swept the bypolls in West Bengal on Saturday, retaining five seats and wresting Madarihat from the BJP.

📌In Sitai (SC), TMC's Sangita Roy won by a margin of 1,30,636 over BJP's Dipak Kumar Ray who garnered only 35,348 votes. TMC's vote share surged to 76 per cent, compared to 49 per cent in the 2021 state elections, while the BJP's share plummeted from 45 per cent to just 16 per cent.

📌The Madarihat (ST) seat, previously held by the BJP, marked another significant victory for the TMC. The ruling party's Jayprakash Toppo won by 79,186 votes, securing a lead of 28,168 votes over BJP's Rahul Lohar.

It is the first time the party has taken control of Madarihat, a key seat in the tea garden belt.

📌In Naihati, TMC's Sanat Dey won with 78,772 votes, defeating BJP's Rupak Mitra by 49,277 votes. TMC's vote share increased to 62.97 per cent, up from 50 per cent in 2021, while BJP's share fell to 23.58 per cent, a significant drop from 38 per cent in 2021.

📌In Haroa, TMC's SK Rabiul Islam won with 1,57,072 votes, maintaining a commanding margin of 1,31,388 votes over Piyarul Islam of the ISF, who secured only 25,684 votes.

📌In Medinipur, TMC's Sujoy Hazra won with 115,104 votes, a margin of 33,996 votes over BJP's Subhajit Roy, who secured 81,108 votes.

📌In Taldangra, TMC's Falguni Singhababu won by bagging 98,926 votes, maintaining a margin of 34,082 votes over BJP's Ananya Roy Chakraborty. The TMC increased its vote share to 52 per cent, up from 46 per cent in 2021, while the BJP's share dropped to 34 per cent from 39.9 per cent.

(PTI)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday thanked the people of the state as her party, the Trinamool Congress, was on the course to bag all the six assembly seats that went to the by-elections.

She said the results of the by-elections would help her work for the people. (PTI)

In the ongoing bypolls for six Assembly seats in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is leading in most constituencies, according to early results.

Five of the six constituencies are in South Bengal, a TMC stronghold, while Madarihat in the north, previously won by the BJP, remains a key battleground. Despite the BJP's efforts to retain Madarihat, the party is trailing in all constituencies so far.

Total votes cast : 2,19,266.

Voter turn-out: 70.55%

"This is people's answer to those who have tried hard to malign Mamata Banerjee's image. There was no fault of Govt in RG Kase case, the voter's have proved it by casting vote in our favour ," said Partha Bhowmick Naihati former MLA who is now MP from Barrackpore

TMC takes early lead in all six assembly seats in Bengal including:

Haroa (7000 votes)

Taldangra (3300)

Naihati (14,690)

Sitai (15,300)

Madarihat (5000)

Medinipur (5000)

Counting of votes in the bypoll to the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, where ruling BJP and opposition Congress were the main contenders, has begun.

Sitai Bypoll: The Sitai bypoll in West Bengal saw a fierce contest between Sangita Roy of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Harihar Roy Singha of the Indian National Congress (INC), and Dipak Kumar Ray of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Madarihat Bypoll: In Madarihat, the bypoll was a closely contested affair between Bikash Champromary of the Indian National Congress (INC), Jayprakash Toppo of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Rahul Lohar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Taldangra Bypoll: Taldangra witnessed a tightly contested race between Tushar Kanti Sannigrahi of the Indian National Congress (INC), Falguni Singhababu of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Ananya Roy Chakraborty of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Medinipur Bypoll: The Medinipur bypoll saw a fierce three-way fight among Shyamal Kumar Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC), Sujoy Hazra of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Subhajit Roy (Bunty) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Haroa Bypoll: In Haroa, the bypoll turned into a tough contest between Habib Reza Chowdhury of the Indian National Congress (INC), Bimal Das of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and SK Rabiul Islam of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Naihati Bypoll: The Naihati bypoll saw a tight race between Paresh Nath Sarkar of the Indian National Congress (INC), Rupak Mitra of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Sanat Dey of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The by-polls come as the last major litmus test before the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls, even as the protests have been seen as more urban-based than rural.

Out of the six seats, Madarihat and Sitai are in northern West Bengal and the other four — Taldangra, Medinipur, Haroa, and Naihati — are in southern West Bengal. In 2021, five of these were bagged by the TMC, while the BJP won in one seat. All six were vacated after their holders won the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

“We have trust in the people. We are hopeful that people have voted for (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee’s development initiatives in Bengal. We expect to win six out of six tomorrow,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC general secretary and spokesperson.

VOTER TURNOUT

Gujarat: In the 2022 Assembly elections, Vav constituency reported a voter turnout of 68.71%.

West Bengal: The by-polls on November 13 saw a voter turnout of around 69.29 per cent.

Counting of votes for last week’s bypoll to the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, where ruling BJP and opposition Congress were the main contenders, will be held today.

The counting of votes for the bypoll, held on November 13, will take place at an engineering college in Jagana village, they said.

Nearly 160 election officials and 400 personnel of the Gujarat police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed at the counting centre, where the votes will be counted from 8 am, a release issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Gujarat said on Friday.

Amid widespread protests on the R G Kar rape and murder case, the state’s Opposition parties are trying to corner the ruling Trinamool Congress. The five of these seats were won by the TMC in the 2021 Assembly elections. The TMC leadership, on the other hand, claims that the impact of “urban protests” over the RG Kar issue will not have an impact on the rural and semi-urban voters in the by-elections.

The bypolls were necessitated following the resignations of MLAs who were elected to the Lok Sabha in the general elections this year. The TMC, BJP and the Congress have fielded candidates for all six seats.

Out of the six seats, Madarihat and Sitai are in northern West Bengal and the other four — Taldangra, Medinipur, Haroa, and Naihati — are in southern West Bengal. In 2021, five of these were bagged by the TMC, while the BJP won in one seat. All six were vacated after their holders won the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

In Gujarat, Congress candidate and former MLA Gulabsinh Rajput and BJP’s Swaroopji Thakor are the main contestants, but the presence of BJP rebel Mavji Patel has made the bypoll a three-way fight. Patel (73), who comes from the dominant Chaudhary community, was suspended as BJP’s primary member for his decision to contest as an independent candidate.

Seven other candidates — six independents and one from the Bharatiya Jan Parishad party — were also in the fray for the bypoll.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Thakor had lost from the seat, a Congress bastion, to opposition party candidate Geniben Thakor in the 2022 assembly polls.

Greetings!

Counting of votes for last week’s bypolls to the Vav Assembly seat in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district and for six Assembly constituencies in West Bengal begins today. Follow this blog to stay updated with all the latest live updates.