Ruling Congress candidate Umesh Meti on Monday (May 4) won the Bagalkot assembly seat, for which the bypolls were held on April 9, by a margin of 22,332 votes, the Election Commission said.
In Davanagere South, the other constituency, where bypolls were held, and counting is underway, Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun is leading ahead of BJP’s Srinivasa T Dasakariyappa by a margin of 5,824 votes.
The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs HY Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).
Umesh Meti, who is the son of HY Meti, secured 98,919 votes, while BJP’s Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, a former MLA and 2023-defeated candidate, secured 76,587 votes. In the 2023 Assembly elections, HY Meti defeated BJP’s Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP’s BG Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
Maharashtra: Sunetra Pawar takes decisive lead in Baramati
Jay Pawar, son of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, on Monday thanked voters for their faith in his mother, who is poised to win the Baramati assembly bypoll, while urging supporters to refrain from celebrations once the result is declared.
Sunetra Pawar, who heads the NCP, bagged more than 1 lakh votes at the end of the 13th round of counting, taking a decisive lead over her 22 rivals, who could not even cross the 500-vote mark, according to the latest data on the Election Commission’s website.
The byelection, held on April 23, was necessitated due to the death of the then-Deputy CM and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head Ajit Pawar in a plane crash near Baramati airstrip in Pune district on January 28.
His wife Sunetra Pawar, contesting her first assembly poll, is poised for a huge win riding a sympathy wave, and given her family’s strong hold on the constituency. No major political party has fielded candidates against her.
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“None of us wanted to have such an election. There has also been an unfortunate incident in neighbouring Bhor tehsil (where a four-year-old child was raped and murdered). We do not wish to celebrate this victory,” Jay Pawar told reporters in Baramati.
Sunetra Pawar also appealed to the party workers and supporters not to take out victory processions or celebrate with ‘gulal’ once the result is declared. She dedicated the trust placed in her by voters to the memory of her late husband, Ajit Pawar, and urged people to exercise restraint and uphold conduct that reflects his ideals.
Asked about him leading the byelection campaign, Jay Pawar said the success was not a solitary effort.
“I was not alone in this. Every well-wisher was with us in this campaign and voting. We could achieve it only because of it,” he stated.
Jay Pawar, an NCP functionary, further said he would remain available for the people of the constituency every Thursday to address their concerns.
BJP’s Kardile leading in Rahuri
The Rahuri seat in Ahilyanagar district became vacant after BJP MLA Shivaji Kardile’s death in October last year.
His son and BJP nominee Akshay Kardile was leading over his nearest rival, NCP (SP) candidate Govind Mokate, by over 70,000 votes, as per the latest trends. After 17 rounds of counting out of 27, Kardile secured 85,635 votes against his nearest rival Govind Makote of NCP (SP), who secured 15,539 votes.
The Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats. The ruling Mahayuti alliance has 235 seats (BJP-132, Shiv Sena-57, NCP Ajit-41, allies-5), while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi combine has 50 seats (Shiv Sena UBT-20, Congress-16, NCP SP-10, others-4).
Gujarat: BJP’s Harshad Parmar wins Umreth.
BJP candidate Harshad Parmar won the bypoll to Umreth assembly seat in Gujarat on Monday, defeating his nearest rival from Congress, Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes. Parmar bagged 85,500 votes, while Chauhan polled 54,757 votes, as per data on the Election Commission’s website.
Four other candidates – three Independents and one from a lesser-known party – trailed far behind, failing to even cross the 1,000-vote mark.
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The bypoll, held on April 23, was necessitated due to the death of the then-sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar on March 6 following a heart attack. The BJP fielded his son Harshad Parmar, and this was his first major election.
Congress nominee Chauhan served as the president of the Umreth taluka panchayat for three consecutive terms between 2000 and 2015. He is currently the Opposition party’s coordinator for the central zone in the state.
Tripura: BJP wins Dharmanagar
The BJP’s Jahar Chakraborti on Monday won the Dharmanagar Assembly bypoll in Tripura by a margin of 18,920 votes over his nearest CPI(M) candidate.
Chakraborti secured 24,291 votes while his nearest rival, CPI(M)’s Amitabha Datta, polled 6,001 votes. The Congress’ Chayan Bahttacharya got 5,936 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Tripura Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen in December 2025. The voter turnout in the bypoll was 79.84 per cent.
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With the victory, the BJP’s tally in the 60-member Assembly stands at 33, while its allies – the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) has 13 MLAs, and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura has one lawmaker.
Chief Minister Manik Saha expressed heartfelt gratitude to the people of Dharmanagar for favouring the BJP with an overwhelming mandate.
“I sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Dharmanagar for electing Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Jahar Chakraborty, with an overwhelming majority in the Dharmanagar by-election. Your immense support and trust have made us even more responsible. We are committed to working tirelessly towards the overall development, peace, and progress of Dharmanagar. Let us move forward together and take this journey of development even further with everyone’s support,” Saha wrote on Facebook.
Nagaland: BJP’s Imchen wins Koridang
BJP candidate Daochier I Imchen won the by-election to the Koridang assembly segment in Nagaland by 3,123 votes on Monday, according to the Election Commission. He secured 7,317 votes, defeating Independent candidate Toshikaba, who polled 4,194 votes.
Another Independent candidate, Imtiwapang, finished third with 3,633 votes, while NPP nominee I Abenjang polled 3,219 votes. Congress candidate T Chalukumba Ao secured just 144 votes, while NOTA polled 48 votes.
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With this victory, Imchen enters the 14th Nagaland assembly as the youngest legislator at 35. He maintained a consistent lead across several polling stations, particularly in the Mangmetong and Longkhum areas, securing a decisive victory.
The by-election was necessitated following the demise of his father, Imkong L Imchen, a five-time former MLA. Imchen’s victory is being seen as a continuation of his family’s political hold over Koridang.
(With agency inputs)
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