Bengal bypoll results: BJP wins Nandigram, Rejinagar; Congress sees hope

The BJP’s victories in the Nandigram and Rejinagar by-polls gave it an optics advantage, allowing the party to project itself as more than a force dependent on Hindu consolidation. For the Opposition, the results suggested that the Congress was, for now, emerging as the principal beneficiary of the Trinamool Congress’s apparent erosion of support.

Nandigram win strengthens Adhikari's position

In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath defeated her nearest rival, Congress's Milan Pradhan, by over 1 lakh votes.

The margin reinforced Suvendu Adhikari's political dominance on his home turf, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021 and retained the seat in the 2026 assembly elections. He subsequently vacated it to retain the Bhabanipur seat, necessitating the by-election.

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For the BJP, however, a victory in Nandigram was largely expected. The more immediate concern was the margin, which the party could use to demonstrate that Adhikari’s influence had grown since becoming Chief Minister, even when he was not the candidate.

Rath's candidature, following the killing of her son Chandranath Rath, an aide to Adhikari, also gave the BJP a sympathy advantage in the contest.

BJP claims support among Muslim voters

The BJP sought to give the Nandigram result broader political significance by making Muslim voters the focus of its campaign. Adhikari openly challenged them to demonstrate whether they were willing to accept the BJP government, describing the by-poll as a test in which they would either “pass or fail”.

The initial analysis of the results suggests that the BJP secured a significant share of the minority vote, though Opposition parties alleged that coercion had played a part.

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The BJP was quick to claim political significance from this apparent shift, arguing that minorities were also gravitating towards the party because of its development agenda.

“Minorities voted for us in large numbers to be part of the BJP government’s development initiatives and to strengthen the hands of Suvendu Adhikari, who is pursuing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principle of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’,” Rath said.

Adhikari credits welfare schemes for minority support

Adhikari alleged that the Opposition had misled Bengali-speaking Muslims by claiming that a BJP government would deport them to Bangladesh and deprive them of government benefits.

He said these claims had been exposed because Muslims, like other communities, had benefited from government welfare schemes, which he argued was one reason minorities voted for the BJP.

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He added that the party would receive greater support from minorities, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims, in the coming days and that his party would secure more than 60 per cent of the votes in the state.

Senior BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar reinforced the party’s political narrative of securing minority votes, saying the results of the two by-polls pointed to a shift in West Bengal’s political demography, with sections of the electorate previously perceived as unlikely to vote for the BJP also backing the party.

Rejinagar result adds to BJP's claim

The BJP’s claim of a shift in minority support got further support in Rejinagar, a constituency with a Muslim electorate of around 70 per cent. In the constituency, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated his nearest rival, Golam Nabi Azad of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), by a margin of over 75,000 votes.

The seat fell vacant after Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir, who won both Rejinagar and Nowda in the Assembly election, retained Nowda.

According to the BJP candidate, the result challenged the assumption that a Muslim-majority constituency would not elect a BJP candidate. Echoing his Nandigram counterpart, he described the victory as a mandate for development.

Political analyst cautions against broad conclusions

But it would be misleading to treat the BJP's victory as proof of a wholesale shift in Muslim political preferences, claimed political commentator Debasish Chakraborty.

The division of votes among AJUP, Congress, the TMC and the Left, alongside local factors and candidate choices, needs to be considered before drawing conclusions about a change in the electorate's political alignment, he added.

Congress gains ground as TMC support weakens

For the Opposition, the results underlined its failure to translate opposition to the BJP into a consolidated electoral challenge.

In Nandigram, the Congress contested with support from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction after its candidate withdrew.

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The party’s second-place finish made it the principal challenger to the BJP, while the increase in its vote share compared with the May election suggested that it had benefited, to some extent, from the TMC’s support.

In Rejinagar, the Congress finished third behind the AJUP but ahead of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction and the Left Front. While the result fell short of establishing the Congress as the principal challenger to the BJP in the constituency, its lead over these rivals suggested that it was gaining ground in the contest for opposition space as the TMC’s hold weakened.

Opposition alleges electoral malpractice

The results, however, were clouded by allegations of electoral malpractice. Opposition parties accused the BJP of obstructing voters, including members of the minority community, from exercising their franchise.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee cited an apparent discrepancy at booth 109 in Rejinagar, claiming that the BJP had secured more votes than the number of registered electors.

“Registered voters: 772. BJP votes reportedly secured: 909,” Banerjee posted on X, asking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar how a party could receive more votes at a booth than its total electorate.