Bengal Bypolls: BJP Sweeps Nandigram And Muslim-Majority Rejinagar, Wins Both Seats by Huge Margins

Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a decisive victory in the Nandigram Assembly by-election in West Bengal on Friday, October 9, with its candidate Hasirani Rath defeating Congress nominee Milan Pradhan by a margin of 1,22,753 votes. The BJP was also leading in the Rejinagar Assembly constituency as counting continued.

The BJP on Friday won the Rejinagar assembly seat in West Bengal's Murshidabad district by a margin of 75,816 votes, making a significant breakthrough in the Muslim-majority constituency.

Rath's victory marks a significant result in Nandigram, a constituency that has remained at the centre of West Bengal's political contest. The Election Commission declared the Nandigram result on Friday, with the BJP candidate winning by more than 1.2 lakh votes.

Hasirani Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari who was shot dead in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas district, on May 6. The BJP had fielded her in the by-election following the vacancy in Nandigram.

'Historic & Unprecedented': CM Hails BJP's Victory

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said welfare schemes had helped counter misconceptions among Bengali-speaking Muslims about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the party led in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly by-elections, according to Election Commission trends.

Vote counting is underway in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies following by-elections held on October 6.

Speaking in Kolkata about the Rejinagar bypoll, Adhikari said a significant number of women from the Muslim community had received assistance under the Annapurna Yojana and pension schemes.

"In Rejinagar, 70,000 women, including 35,000 from the Muslim minority community, have benefited from the Annapurna Yojana. Who will they vote for? Consider the 84 lakh recipients of the Old Age and Widow Pension who received an extra ₹500; among them, 22 lakh are Muslims. Out of the 1.58 crore beneficiaries of the Annapurna scheme, 24 lakh are Muslim women.

Mamata Banerjee, the CPM, and the opposition had created a misconception... However, people's experience has changed, and they have now aligned themselves with the government. Just watch the upcoming elections; you will see that the majority of votes, especially from Bengali-speaking Muslims, will go in favor of both the state and central governments,” he said.

“This is not a new trend; it is an old one. The people told Bengali-speaking Muslims that if the BJP came to power, everyone would be sent to Bangladesh and that they would receive no benefits... That claim has been proven false. Under PM Modi's leadership, we work for everyone; we work to strengthen nationalism and the spirit of 'Vande Mataram.' This approach has now entered the mainstream," he added.

Why Nandigram Went To Bypolls

The Nandigram Assembly seat fell vacant after Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly elections, retained Bhabanipur.

The constituency has a significant political history. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Adhikari defeated then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, making the seat one of the most closely watched constituencies in the state.

For the by-election, the Congress fielded Milan Pradhan, while the BJP nominated Hasirani Rath. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress faction withdrew its candidate and extended support to the Congress nominee, in a bid to consolidate opposition support against the BJP.

Despite the opposition support arrangement, Rath secured a victory by more than 1.22 lakh votes.

BJP Wins Rejinagar

Meanwhile, the BJP on Friday won the Rejinagar assembly seat in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district by a margin of 75,816 votes, making a significant breakthrough in the Muslim-majority constituency.

BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar polled 1,29,914 votes in the by-election, defeating his nearest rival, Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad, who secured 54,098 votes, according to the results declared by the Election Commission.

BJP bagged around 63.14 per cent of the votes, whereas Azad secured 26.29 per cent.

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