Bypoll updates: BJP leads in UP; TMC in WB; Congress in Karnataka

The ruling BJP and its ally RLD were leading in six of the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh while the Trinamool Congress maintained its foothold over West Bengal and the Congress in Karnataka.

The AAP and the Congress have won one seat each in Punjab where bypolls were held for four seats. It was a close contest in Rajasthan as the BJP, Congress and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) candidates are leading on two seats each while an Independent was leading in Jhunjhunu. The BJP candidates in Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were also ahead of their rivals.

The ruling NDA alliance in Bihar established lead in all four constituents and in Assam it was leading in four of the five assembly constituencies. The ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalya got a boost as party candidate and chief minister's wife Mehtab Chandee Agitok Sangma won the Gambegre bypoll by a margin of over 4,500 votes.

Bypolls were also held for two Lok Sabha seats in Kerala's Wayanad and Maharashtra's Nanded. In Wayanad, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was ahead of her rival while in Nanded the BJP candidate was ahead.

In the bypolls to nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, which are being seen as a precursor to the 2027 assembly polls, the BJP and its ally RLD were leading in six seats while the Samajwadi Party was ahead in the remaining three, Election Commission trends showed.

The BJP was in the lead in Kundarki, Khair, Ghaziabad, Phulpur and Majhawan seats, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Meerapur and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Karhal, Katehari and Sisamau.

In Meerapur, the RLD's Mithilesh Pal is leading against the Samajwadi Party candidate.

Reinforcing its hold over West Bengal which has been seeing prolonged protests over the RG Kar Medical College incident, the ruling TMC won three seats, wresting the key Madarihat seat from the BJP, and took unassailable leads in three others across all six assembly constituencies where bypolls were held.

In Karnataka, the ruling Congress was ahead in all three seats of Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur.

In neighbouring Kerala, Congress-led UDF candidate Rahul Mamkootathil extended his lead by over 15,000 votes in Palakkad assembly bypoll while ruling LDF candidate U R Pradeep extended his lead by over 11,000 votes in Chelakkara.

Madhya Pradesh saw the Congress candidate leading by 4,747 votes in Vijaypur assembly seat, while the BJP candidate was ahead in Budhni constituency by 5,362 votes.

In Chhattisgarh, BJP candidate Sunil Kumar Soni was leading by 20,629 votes over his Congress rival Akash Sharma in Raipur City South assembly bypoll while in Gujarat, Congress candidate Gulabsinh Rajput widened his lead by 13,978 votes over his BJP rival Swarupji Thakor. PTI