New Delhi [India], June 23 : The Election Commission of India on Monday announced the results for the by-elections conducted on five seats of four states - Gujarat, Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal.
While most of the parties like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retained their seats in this by-elections, but the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala faced a major blow, as the alliance failed to retain its Nilambur assembly seat.
The bypolls were conducted on Kaliganj assembly constituency of West Bengal, Kadi and Visavadar seats of Gujarat, Nilambur of Kerala and Ludhiana West of Punjab.
In a significant blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala, UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath of Congress defeated LDF's M Swaraj of CPI(M) by a large margin of 11,077 votes in the Nilambur assembly by-election.
Shoukath had secured 77737 votes, a lead of 11077 votes from M Swaraj of the CPM after 19 rounds of counting.
The bypoll for the Nilambur seat was necessitated after the resignation of Left Democratic Front independent legislator PV Anvar, who later joined the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) after his acrimonious break-up with the ruling alliance.
In its official statement, Congress in Kerala said, "Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has won the Nilambur assembly constituency, a sitting seat of the ruling CPM combine, by a huge margin of over 11,000 votes. Big congrats to Aryadan Shoukath and the entire Congress-UDF team that worked relentlessly for this shining victory."
"Successive bypoll wins and a clean sweep in the parliament elections by the Congress and UDF have proved beyond doubt that the anti-incumbency sentiment against the Pinarayi Vijayan government is gaining momentum by the day. Now the anger of the people has reached its peak. The government cannot escape the heat or continue to live in denial, hiding behind the multi-crore PR machinery," it added.
In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Alifa Ahmed secured victory in the Kaliganj assembly by-election by a margin of 50,049 votes.
Alifa defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ashish Ghosh and Congress' Kabil Uddin Shaikh and emerged victorious on the seat.
According to the Election Commission of India, Alifa received 1,02,759 votes while BJP's Ghosh received 52,710 votes. Congress' Shaikh managed to get 28,348 votes while 2,502 votes went to NOTA (None of the above).
The by-poll in the constituency was necessitated after the death of TMC leader Nasiruddin Ahmed.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her deep gratitude to the voters, thanking them for their overwhelming support after party took lead on the Kaliganj seat.
In a social media post on X, Chief Minister Banerjee wrote, "In the by-election of the Kaliganj Assembly constituency, people from all religions, castes, communities, and all walks of life have overwhelmingly blessed us by exercising their voting rights. I humbly express my gratitude to them."
She credited the victory to the guiding values of Maa-Mati-Manush (Mother, Soil, People), emphasizing, "The main architect of this victory is Maa-Mati-Manush. My colleagues in Kaliganj have worked tirelessly for this, and I extend my sincere congratulations to them as well."
In Punjab, AAP's Sanjeev Arora won the by-elections by with a margin of 10,637 votes, retaining the party's seat.
In Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gopal Italia won the Visavadar seat while BJP's Rajendrakumar (Rajubhai) Daneshwar Chavda won the Kadi seat.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gopal Italia won the Visavadar (Gujarat) Assembly by-election by a margin of 17,554 votes.
The Visavadar seat fell vacant after Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai resigned.
After party's victory, former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the people of Gujarat and Punjab after the party's spectacular performance in the bypolls in Visavadar and Ludhiana West and said that people rejected Congress and BJP in both the constituencies.
Speaking on his victory, Gopal Italia said, "These elections were contested by the public... I was only a medium. When the people contest the elections themselves, it is confirmed that the results would be historic... The BJP did everything to win these elections... This is people's win. The people want change in Gujarat... The people have faith in the AAP and its leadership... I thank everyone who was involved in these elections..."
Gujarat AAP leader Anup Sharma said, "The people of Visavadar saw the false promises made by the BJP. All their fake promises have been revealed, and Gopal Italia did not win alone. Today, every member of the Aam Aadmi Party is feeling this victory, and this lead will increase. This is a 'khasa tamasha' to the BJP by the people of Gujarat."
Following Gopal Italia's victory in the Visavadar by-election, Gujarat AAP president Isudan Gadhvi said that AAP will form the government in 2027.Gadhvi said this is a victory for the people of Visavadar, including farmers, labourers, and unemployed youth.
He claimed it marks the beginning of AAP's rise in Gujarat and further emphasised that AAP, not Congress, can challenge the BJP's dominance in the state.
In a post on X, AAP Gujarat expressed its gratitude, stating, "Many thanks to the people of Visavadar, Bhensan, and Junagadh villages for choosing the politics of work of the Aam Aadmi Party."
Meanwhile, BJP's Rajendrakumar (Rajubhai) Daneshwar Chavda won the Kadi seat with a margin of 39,452 votes. He managed to gain 99,742 votes.
In a social media post on X, the Gujarat BJP expressed gratitude to the public after party candidate Chavda secured victory from Kadi.
"Many thanks to Janata Janardhan and hearty congratulations to the workers for giving a grand victory to Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Shri Rajendrabhai Chavda in the Kadi Assembly by-election," the Gujarat BJP posted.