New Delhi, Nov 22 (Agencies) : "The people of India are with Narendra Modi," Kumar declared in parliament as reports came in that the BJP has won the Nepanagar assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh and is leading in the Shahdol Lok Sabha seat. It will retain both seats if it wins Shahdol.

In Assam, like Madhya Pradesh a BJP-ruled state, the BJP is leading by a huge margin in the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat vacated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Also the BJP is leading in Baithalangso assembly seat, where the Congress candidate who had won in May joined the BJP.

Results are being announced today for by-elections held for four parliament and 10 assembly constituencies in six states - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu - and one union territory, Puducherry.

In Arunachal Pradesh, Desingu Pul, the wife of former chief minister Kalikho Pul, who committed suicide in August, is contesting his assembly seat Hayuliang as a BJP candidate. The BJP backs the state government after Chief Minister Pema Khandu broke away from the Congress.

In West Bengal, by-elections were held for one assembly seat - Monteswar - and two parliament seats - Coochbehar and Tamluk - all held by the Trinamool Congress of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The party is set to win back all three seats.

In Tamil Nadu, by-elections were held for Thanjavur and Aravakurichi assembly seats where polling was cancelled during the state elections this year because of allegations that parties were bribing voters. Also for the Thiruparankundram assembly seat. All three are direct contests between the ruling AIADMK and chief opposition the DMK.

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy of the Congress has won the Nellithope Assembly seat. Narayanasamy is a Lok Sabha lawmaker and needed to become a member of the state assembly within six months of being sworn in chief minister in May.

These were the first elections after the currency ban, over which a united opposition has attacked the government calling its implementation of the demonetisation faulty and without concern for the poor who have suffered hardships because of the cash crunch that has followed.

Tripura by-Polls: Despite CPI(M) victory, BJP makes huge inroads - Cong pushed down

Agartala, Nov 22 (Agencies) : Though the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) won both assembly seats that were up for grabs in the by-polls conducted on 19 November in Tripura, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) successfully made inroads into the communist-led state.

In the by-polls conducted on 19 November, the results for which were declared today, CPI-M managed to get 52 per cent of the votes, BJP received 21 per cent vote and Congress shrunk to a little over 2 per cent.

The case of Barjala

CPI-M candidate Jhumu Sarkar defeated his nearest BJP rival Shistamohan Das by a small margin of 3,374 votes in Barjala (SC) constituency. CPI-M garnered 15,769 votes, while BJP secured 12,395 votes (a gap of 21 per cent).

By-poll in the constituency was necessitated due to the resignation of Congress MLA Jitendra Sarkar in June last year. Congress secured only 804 votes, while Trinamool Congress (TMC), 5,629 votes.

In the 2013 Tripura assembly polls, CPI-M candidate Jitendara Das had garnered 17,467 (48.52 per cent) votes in Barjala constituency, while BJP’s Samir Biswas had only managed to get 511 (1.42 per cent) votes.

Compared to 2013 Tripura assembly elections, when the difference between the two parties stood at 47.1 per cent, the gap between the two shrunk to 21 per cent.

INC’s Jintendra Sarkar had won the Barjala seat in 2013 with 17728 votes, but the party was nowhere to be seen in the recent by-polls.

Khowai Constituency

In Khowai, CPI-M candidate Biswajit Datta trounced his nearest TMC candidate Manoj Das by a margin of 16,047 votes. CPI-M secured 24,810 votes, and TMC, 8,763 votes. The seat fell vacant due to the death of CPI-M MLA Samir Deb Sarkar, a veteran party leader.

The opposition Congress candidate, who secured 13,859 votes in the last assembly elections in 2013, secured only 696 votes in this election. Party’s vote count in Khowai shrunk by over 94 per cent.