For the past several years, barring one or two exceptions, the party in power in West Bengal have won the bypolls in the State without much resistance from the Opposition parties. A victory in the Assembly elections would mean that the ruling party extends its electoral dominance to by-elections, civic and panchayat polls, and the party in power literally takes over all elected bodies and institutions.
Also Read | West Bengal bypolls proved that BJP does not draw support from just one community: CM Suvendu
Despite these trends, the margin of victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded bypolls at Nandigram and Rejinagar is something that must ring alarm bells for the Opposition parties. The BJP won the Nandigram bypoll by a margin of 1.22 lakh votes, registering 76 % of the all the votes polled. At Rejinagar, the margin was 75,000, and the BJP candidate secured 63 % of the votes.
Mamata AITC candidate secured 1.87 % votes at Rejinagar
Before May 4, 2026, the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, dominated the electoral politics, and the vote share of the party had increased to even 48%.
However, the defeat in the 2026 Assembly polls and the split of the party in the Lok Sabha and West Bengal Assembly have severely impacted its electoral prospects. The candidate of Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) nominated for the Nandigram Assembly seat withdrew at the last moment at Nandigram, prompting Mamata Banerjee to support the Congress candidate. At the Rejinagar Assembly seat, Mamata AITC candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury secured only 3847 votes, which is only 1.87 % of the total votes secured. This may be the lowest number of votes secured by the Trinamool Congress in the past two decades on any assembly seat.
The runner-up at Rejinagar was Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) candidate Golam Nabi Azad, who secured 54,098 votes and 26.29% of the vote. His father and AJUP founder, Humayun Kabir, had won the seat a few months ago by a margin of over 58,000 votes, and the margin of BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar in the Rejinagar by-poll was over 75,000 votes.
Left and DTP fare no better, Congress sees marginal rise
Similar to the Mamata AITC candidate, the vote polled in favour of candidates of the Communist Party of India ( Marxist) candidate Md Sayeed at Rejinagar was less than 5%, and he lost his deposit. Md Sayeed secured 3797 votes in his favour, which is 1.85 % of the total votes polled at Rejinagar bypolls. The candidate of the Democratic Trinamool Congress- the faction led by Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee Safiuzzaman Saikh secured only 0.99 % and the Congress candidate, Abdullahil Kafi, secured 3% of the votes.
At Nandigram, where the Congress emerged as the runners-up, the margin of victory was 1.22 lakh votes. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had won the seat in 2026 Assembly polls only ago by a margin of 9665 votes.
The Congress candidate Milan Pradhan who was arrested weeks before the polls and later granted bail by Calcutta High Court, secured 19.25 % votes. The Communist Party of India candidate 2.67 % votes and DTP candidate could manage only 0.39 % votes. In a nutshell, the Opposition candidates have secured little support from the electorate in the by-polls.
Big boost for the BJP in West Bengal
The bypoll victories have come as a major boost for the BJP in West Bengal , particularly because the Muslim voters at both Nandigram and Rejinagar voted for the party candidates.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said 80% of the Muslims at Nandigram and 60% Muslim at Rejinagar voted for the BJP candidate in the bypolls. At a victory procession in Kolkata, he said that the results prove that the BJP does not get support from just one community and thanked minority voters for supporting his government.
The victory has enthused the BJP leadership, including the Chief Minister who are urging the people to have a triple engine government in tghe State by ensuring that the saffron party wins elections to Kolkata Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies.
The reasons behind the Muslim electorate supporting the BJP candidates could be that the minorities who are dependent on government schemes like Annapurna Yojana want to be on the side of the government that has got a fresh mandate. The minorities who have supported Trinamool Congress in the past are confused as to which party they should align.
The road ahead for the Opposition
After the 2026 Assembly polls which saw BJP getting a two thirds majority and the split in Trinamool Congress with majority of Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs parting ways with Mamata Banerjee, there is a vacuum as far as Opposition space is concerned.
The Congress and Mamata AITC have come together, but without any electoral alliance, the coming together of the two parties in Delhi will not mean much for the electorate. Arch-rivals Mamata Trinamool and CPI(M) led Left parties have also softened the stance against each other. Unless there is a clear favourite emerging in the Opposition, the BJP will have a field day. There is considerable anger over people losing their voting rights during SIR ahead of the Assembly polls and lots of other issues, but the bypolls have indicated that the Opposition is unable to get much support over these issues. Moreover, the results of the bypolls have indicated that there is a vacuum as far as Opposition is concerned.
Published – October 14, 2026 09:36 am IST
