India
oi-Gaurav Sharma
BJP leader Smriti Irani on Friday praised the party’s by-elections results, stating the outcome was a vote of confidence in democracy to counter the “mobocracy” of the Opposition.
Congratulating her party candidates for West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, Irani was quick to single out Nandigram and Rejinagar as constituencies with varied demographics where the BJP pulled off wins.
BJP leader Smriti Irani praised the party’s Assembly bypoll victories in Nandigram and Rejinagar, West Bengal, calling the results a vote for democracy against Opposition “mobocracy.” Hasin Rani Rath won Nandigram defeating Congress’s Milan Pradhan, while Shankharavh Sarkar secured Rejinagar against Aam Janata Unnayan Party’s Golam Nabi Azad.
“Today democracy has responded to the mobocracy,” Irani said, expressing delight at the turn of events for the BJP’s Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls.
The BJP leader also took a dig at the Congress over its anti-national rhetoric, recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party’s then-outgoing chief’s January 2025 remarks about not fighting the Indian state but the BJP. Irani accused the Opposition of having continued to attack the country’s institutions.
BJP Wins Nandigram by a Big Margin
The BJP scored a spectacular victory in the Nandigram Assembly bypoll where its candidate Hasin Rani Rath, mother of Chandranath Rath, a Suvendu Adhikari aide who was shot dead on May 6, defeated Congress leader Milan Pradhan by a large margin.
According to Election Commission of India data, Rath had garnered 1,64,427 votes, compared to 41,674 votes for Pradhan.
CPI candidate Santi Gopal Giri finished third with 5,779 votes, while All India Secular Front nominee Ali Mohammed Sabse Miraj Khan got 1,607 votes.
Nandigram, which has been a hotbed for Suvendu Adhikari’s political career, went to the polls after he vacated the seat in the 54-member West Bengal Assembly following his victory in the 2026 polls. Adhikari had won back the Bhabanipur seat as he defeated Mamata Banerjee, the sitting chief minister whose Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been in power in the state for three consecutive terms.
Trinamool Congress’s own nominee Sanchita Pradhan Dey pulled out of the fray after meeting Adhikari, paving the way for Rath — a vocal Congress-critic — to take on her nephew Milan Pradhan.
The Nandigram seat has been the scene of several communal clashes and now finds itself at the crossroads after the TMC’s endorsement of Congress’ Milan Pradhan.
While Rath’s candidature drew considerable attention due to the high-profile killing of her son, the victory in a crucial assembly constituency is another feather in the cap for the ruling party.
BJP Candidate Wins Rejinagar Bypoll
The BJP also clinched the Rejinagar Assembly bypoll with its candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeating Aam Janata Unnayan Party nominee Golam Nabi Azad, popularly known as Robin, by a big margin.
Sarkar, who got 1,29,914 votes (63.14 per cent), polled more than double the votes of Azad, who got 54,098 votes (26.29 per cent).
Congress nominee Abdullahil Kafi came in third with 6,168 votes followed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with 3,847 votes.
CPI(M) nominee Md Sayeed finished fifth with 3,797 votes followed by Democratic Trinamool Congress’s Saifuzzaman Saikh with 2,044 votes. Irani lauded the public’s choice of the BJP over the TMC in the by-election and condemned the attack on institutions of democracy.
