As a latest political development, the Opposition INDIA bloc, which posed a strong challenge to the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls, has emerged victorious in the by-elections for 13 Assembly seats across seven states. The INDIA bloc secured 10 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party, fresh off its record third term after the Lok Sabha elections, managed to claim only two seats.

The bypolls, held on Wednesday, saw participation from INDIA bloc parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), AAP, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). These elections took place in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu.

In Punjab, AAP's Mohinder Bhagat clinched the Jalandhar West seat with a substantial margin of over 23,000 votes. West Bengal witnessed a clean sweep by the TMC, winning all four contested seats.

Himachal Pradesh's Dehra seat was won by Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, marking her debut in electoral politics. The Congress also secured the Nalagarh seat, while BJP's Ashish Sharma won in Hamirpur. In Tamil Nadu, DMK's Anniyur Siva triumphed in the Vikravandi assembly seat by nearly 60,000 votes.

In Uttarakhand, Congress candidates achieved victories in both Badrinath and Manglaur seats. Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh, BJP's Kamalesh Pratap Shahi emerged victorious in the Amarwar seat.

The counting of votes for these 13 legislative assembly seats began on Saturday morning. These by-elections were the first since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP secured 240 seats—32 short of the majority. However, the NDA crossed the halfway mark with a total of 293 seats. The Congress-led INDIA bloc garnered 232 seats.

Image source: PTI