New Delhi: The Assembly bypolls in four states saw the Congress wresting one seat each from BJP and TMC in Maharashtra and West Bengal respectively and retaining a seat in Tamil Nadu with DMK's support. The BJP and its ally AJSU, on the other hand, bagged one seat each in the western state and Jharkhand.


Sagardighi Bypoll


The ruling Trinamool Congress suffered a defeat in West Bengal’s Sagardighi to Congress' Bayron Biswas by 22,986 votes, making it the only seat held by the grand old party in the state assembly.


Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the Congress and CPI(M) had an understanding with the BJP to defeat TMC with their "immoral" alliance.


"For the Sagardighi loss, I do not blame anyone. But there is an immoral alliance, which we strongly condemn. The BJP transferred its votes to the Congress.... everyone played the communal card. The BJP, of course, played the communal card. The Congress, CPI(M), however, turned out to be bigger players in this regard,” Mamata Banerjee said.


Chinchwad and Kasba Peth Bypoll


The BJP managed to hold on to Chinchwad in Maharashtra's Pune but suffered a setback in its stronghold Kasba Peth, as Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar defeated the saffron party’s Hemant Rasane.


Dhangekar, who was supported by Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), polled 73,194 votes, while Rasane bagged 62,244 votes.


In Chinchwad seat, BJP's Ashwini Jagtap was ahead with 1.12 lakh votes against NCP's Nana Kate, who bagged 84,000 votes.


The bypoll was necessitated after the death of incumbent BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak (Kasba) and Laxman Jagtap (Chinchwad).


Erode East Bypoll


Ruling DMK-backed Congress nominee EVKS Elangovan won in Erode East byelection. Congratulating the winning candidate, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin termed it a public endorsement of the "Dravidian model of governance".


Elangovan won more than one lakh of 1.7lakh votes.


“With the historic and grand win, the ground is being prepared for an even victory of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” Stalin said.


Meanwhile, BJP state chief K Annamalai said he did not see it as an endorsement of the government's performance and said factors like "sympathy" were also there, referring to Elangovan being the father of E Thirumahan Everaa, the Congress MLA whose demise necessitated the byelection.


Ramgarh Bypoll


AJSU candidate Sunita Choudhary won from Jharkhand's Ramgarh defeating UPA-backed Congress nominee Bajrang Mahto, by a margin of 21,970 votes.


The AJSU, which tied up with BJP for the bypoll, secured 1,15,669 votes, while the Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, bagged 93,699 votes.


The bypoll was necessitated after disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.


Lumla Constituency


In Arunachal Pradesh's Lumla constituency, BJP candidate Tsering Lhamu was declared the elected MLA without a contest on February 10. Lhamu, the wife of former MLA Jambey Tashi, was the only candidate who filed her nomination for the bypoll, that was necessitated due to the demise of her husband in last November.