AAP gains in bypolls; Cong, BJP win seats
But celebrations in West Bengal were marred by the death of a 13-year-old girl after a crude bomb was hurled allegedly by workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) during a victory procession. Police arrested one person and chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the incident.
The AAP held on to the Visavadar seat in Gujarat with former state unit chief Gopal Italia defeating BJP's Kirit Patel by 17,581 votes. In the high-profile Ludhiana West bypoll in Punjab, AAP candidate and former Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora defeated former minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu by 10,637 votes.
Arora's victory fuelled speculation that the vacant Rajya Sabha seat could be filled by party chief Arvind Kejriwal, but the former Delhi chief minister denied the rumours.
'I want to tell you I am not going to the Rajya Sabha. The political affairs committee of the party will decide whom to nominate,' he told reporters in Delhi.
The BJP won the Kadi seat and the TMC the Kaliganj seat in West Bengal. The Congress snatched the Nilambur seat from the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Bypolls are usually localised contests where turnouts are lower than regular elections and which are dominated by incumbents. They are not indicative of the wider mood of the state, but can generate interest especially in the run-up to assembly polls - as is the case in Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala, all of which go to the polls next year.
In Visavadar, the bypoll was necessitated by AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani's resignation in December 2023, after which he joined the BJP. The BJP has not won the seat in 18 years.
'In Gujarat, BJP fights elections using power, money, administration and every trick possible - hence it is not easy to win against them. But the double margin victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Visavadar shows that now the public is fed up with the 30 years of misrule of BJP. Gujarat is now on the path of change,' Kejriwal said on X.
In Kadi, a constituency reserved for scheduled castes, BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda won with a margin of 39,452 votes over Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda. The bypoll followed the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki in February 2025. Kadi has long been a BJP bastion. The Kadi constituency, part of the Mehsana Lok Sabha seat, is a BJP stronghold.
'This is the victory of all voters... The party gave me a ticket after 40 years and the public also made me victorious by a margin of about 40,000 votes,' Chavda said.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) scored an impressive victory in Nilambur, wresting the seat from the LDF and gaining momentum ahead of assembly polls. Riding on what he claimed was a wave of anti-incumbency sentiments against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, UDF's Aryadan Shoukath beat LDF's M Swaraj by 11,077 votes.
'For the past nine years, the people of Nilambur had been neglected. It is their victory. It shows the public anger against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government,' Shoukath said.
While Shoukath, son of eight-time MLA and veteran Congress leader Aryadan Mohammed, got 77,737 votes, Swaraj, a former lawmaker and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretariat, received 66,660 votes.
PV Anvar, a former two-time MLA who left the LDF fold following differences with Vijayan and fought as an independent, dented the vote-banks of both coalitions and garnered 19,760 votes to end up third. The BJP's Mohan George, who was fielded to shore up Christian votes, could only gain 8,648 votes and ended fourth. The seat fell vacant after Anvar resigned as an MLA.
Though Nilambur, located in Malappuram district, is largely viewed as an UDF stronghold, it ended up in the LDF kitty in 2016 and 2021 because of Anvar. This is the first time since 2021 that the UDF has wrested a seat that belonged to the LDF in a bypoll.
Leader of the Opposition and UDF chairman VD Satheesan said the Nilambur win gives the UDF enough fuel to clinch a victory in the 2026 assembly elections. 'This win is the result of the hard work of team UDF. We have become the strongest political coalition in Kerala today. We promised the voters that if we win Nilambur, we will come to power in 2026. We will keep that promise,' said Satheesan.
In West Bengal's Kaliganj, Alifa Ahmed, the TMC candidate, won by 50,049 votes. Ahmed received 1,02.759 votes, and Ashish Ghosh, the BJP candidate, got 52,710 votes. The byelection was necessitated after the sudden demise of the former TMC lawmaker and Alifa's father Nasiruddin Ahmed in February. The TMC has held the seat since 2011.
Bengal goes to the polls next year.
'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,' chief minister Mamata Banerjee said.
During the victory procession, a 13-year-old girl died when a crude bomb was hurled allegedly by TMC workers. In the evening, police arrested a local resident, Adar Ali Sheikh, 28. Speaking on condition of anonymity, locals said the accused was a TMC worker and the victim's parents were Left supporters.
'Today, a 13-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries sustained from an explosion in the Kaliganj PS area of Krishnanagar police district. We shall spare no stone unturned to nab the culprits who were behind the incident,' the police said in a statement.
In Ludhiana West, AAP celebrated its victory in a high-stakes contest. 'The significant lead in the win reflects that the people of the state are satisfied with our government's work. We will prioritise fulfilling every promise made to the people of Punjab,' said chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The seat fell vacant after the ruling party's sitting MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gog died in January
The Congress emerged as a divided house with state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring missing from several campaign events. Ashu accepted full responsibility for the defeat and resigned as the working president of the state Congress. 'I firmly believe that the entire Congress stood by me throughout. I congratulate Sanjeev Arora,' he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
a few seconds ago
- Time of India
Talibanstan Dilemma
Talibanstan Dilemma Jayant Prasad Aug 14, 2025, 21:54 IST IST On the fourth anniversary of its Afghanistan takeover, the regime has been recognised by Russia but not India, US, China, Pakistan…The difficulty is how it abuses women and feeds regional terrorism Taliban came to power four years ago. As it has consolidated its position in the absence of credible resistance, the international community, India included, has progressively engaged with Kabul's de facto authorities. Although the Taliban regime is non-inclusive, the law-and-order situation has improved. The logic of engaging with Taliban is that isolating it is unlikely to moderate its actions. Russia is the first country to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). This is in contrast to its attitude towards the first Islamic Emirate between 1996 and 2001, when Russia provided weapons, and Iran and India the money, to the Ahmad Shah Massoud-led Northern Alliance (NA) that was combating Taliban. India had then set up a field hospital for NA in Farkhor, Tajikistan, where the heavily injured Massoud landed, two days before 9/11.
Indian Express
a few seconds ago
- Indian Express
‘Why won't you respect my language': Mamata attacks Centre over ‘harassment' of Bengali-speaking people
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday again accused the Centre of failing to protect Bengali-speaking people from harassment in different parts of the country, citing a recent incident where a techie and his son were allegedly denied hotel accommodation in Noida 'simply because he spoke in Bengali.' Speaking at the annual Kanyashree project programme, Banerjee said, 'If someone is a foreigner, action must be taken against them if the Government of India deems it necessary. That is not in our hands. But such actions should not be done arbitrarily… If I respect your language, why will you not respect mine?' Recalling her own struggles, she told students, 'After my father passed away, I had to sell one of my necklaces to enrol in college. We had no facilities, no advantages. This generation's youth should not suffer like that. They must be self-reliant. I urge parents to not pressure girls into marriage. Once they turn 18, they receive Rs 25,000, keep that in the bank. Even while getting married, women will get Rupashree, another Rs 25,000.' Banerjee highlighted the fall in dropout rates for girls since 2011-12—from 4.75 percent to zero in primary, 16.32 percent to 2.9% in secondary, and 15.41 percent to 3.17 percent in higher secondary. 'Is this not something to be proud of?' she said, urging girls to pursue academics, vocational training, sports, and other careers, citing examples of pilots, doctors, dancers and footballers. On language, she said English must be learned well, even in Bengali-medium schools, but 'never forget your mother tongue'. 'Earlier, till Class 5, English was not taught, but we have introduced it. We should know all languages,' she said. Banerjee invoked history from Vidyasagar abolishing child marriage to Raja Ram Mohan Roy ending sati to highlight West Bengal's contribution to Independence, stressing that 'without Bengal, India's Independence would not have been possible.' 'We have also suffered from Partition. But people who left everything and came to India as refugees were received as Indian citizens,' she said.
News18
25 minutes ago
- News18
Turkiye to provide weapons, support to Syria under new defence agreement
Ankara, Aug 14 (AP) Turkiye will provide weapons, military equipment, and logistical support to Syria under a newly signed defence cooperation agreement, Turkish Defence Ministry officials said Thursday. The announcement came a day after Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Syria's Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on military training and consultancy, reinforcing Turkiye's support to Syria's interim government. Syria last month requested Turkiye's support to strengthen its defence capabilities following sectarian violence in the country that also drew intervention by Israel. Under the agreement, Turkiye would share its 'knowledge and experience" and supply military equipment, weapons systems and logistical materials to help strengthen the country's capabilities, Turkish Defence Ministry officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be quoted by name. Syria's newly formed interim government has faced mounting challenges in restoring order and addressing the deep scars left by nearly 14 years of civil conflict, following the ouster of former President Bashar Assad by Islamist-led rebel forces in December. Most recently, hundreds were killed in clashes in the southern province of Sweida between government forces and local Bedouin tribesmen on one side and fighters from the Druze minority on the other. Turkiye has been supportive of Syria's new administration, which is formed largely by rebels that Ankara backed during the civil war. Also Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned Israel and Kurdish fighters to cease actions threatening Syria's stability, accusing them of undermining the country's efforts to reestablish itself after more than a decade of civil war. Speaking during a joint news conference Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Ankara, Fidan accused the US-allied and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, of stalling the implementation of an agreement that was reached in March to merge with the Syrian army. Last week, representatives of Syria's various ethnic and religious groups held a conference in the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh — which is under the SDF's control — and called for the formation of a decentralised state and the drafting of a new constitution that guarantees religious, cultural and ethnic pluralism. The Syrian government criticised the meeting, and alleged that among the attendees were some with secessionist ambitions. It said that as a result it no longer intends to join planned talks with the SDF in Paris that had been agreed upon in late July. No date had yet been set for the Paris talks. (AP) GSP view comments First Published: August 14, 2025, 22:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
