BJP candidate from Rejinagar Assembly Sakharav Sarker, right, reacts after the party leads as the counting of votes is underway for the assembly by-elections, in Rejinagar, West Bengal
The ruling BJP on Friday swept the West Bengal Assembly by-elections by winning both Nandigram and Rejinagar seats by a record margin, barely five months after the Assembly elections brought about a political change in the State.
Underlining its dominance in the State politics, the party retained Nandigram in the Purba Medinipur district by a huge margin and also won the minority-dominated constituency of Rejinagar in the Murshidabad district.
Candidate result
The BJP candidate in Nandigram, Hasirani Rath, mother of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s slain personal assistant Chandranath Rath, won by 1,22,753 votes, polling 1,64,427 against 41,674 for Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, backed by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Communist Party of India candidate Santi Gopal Giri finished third with 5,779 votes.
In Rejinagar seat, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated Aam Janata Unnayan Party’s condidate Golam Nabi Azad by 75,816 votes. Sarkar secured 1,29,914 votes against 54,098 for Azad, son of AJUP chief Humayun Kabir.
Congress candidate Abdullahil Kafi polled 6,168 votes, while Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress nominee Rabiul Alam Chowdhury received 3,847 votes. The breakaway Democratic Trinamool Congress candidate Safiuzzaman Saikh secured 2,044 votes, while the CPI(M) polled 3,797.
“Bengali-speaking Muslims are going towards the BJP. In Rejinagar, we have got around 60 per cent of the Muslim votes, and in Nandigram, we have got around 80 per cent of the Muslim votes,” the Chief Minister told mediapersons.
“In Nandigram, Hansirani Rath broke my record margin (82,000 in the 2016 Assembly bypoll). Now, we have 209 MLAs. Once upon a time, the CPI(M) and Mamata Banerjee had convinced Muslims that if the BJP comes, they will be driven away. After we came to power, Muslims, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims, understood that we are for development. Their experience was different. Without a majority of Muslims voting for us, we would not have got such a big victory in Rejinagar,” Adhikari added.
State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar alleged that the results reflected “muscle power” operating with the tacit understanding of the state police administration and the Election Commission, rather than the people’s mandate.
Kunal Ghosh, an MLA of the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress faction, alleged that the election had been “looted”. The BJP rejected the allegations.
Voter turnout
West Bengal on Tuesday saw a high voter turnout in the high-stakes by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar, with the BJP claiming it would win both by huge margins, while the Congress and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress alleged “blatant rigging” and “vote theft” at several polling booths.
Voter turnout in the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls stood at 80.89 per cent and 80.07 per cent, respectively, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India.
Published on October 9, 2026
