BJP Sweeps Nandigram By-election as Hasi Rani Rath Beats Congress Rival, Wins by 1.22 Lakh Votes
Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a sweeping victory in the Nandigram Assembly by-election in West Bengal on Friday, with party candidate Hasi Rani Rath defeating her nearest rival, Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, by a massive margin of 1,22,753 votes. The result marked a significant electoral outcome in one of Bengal’s most politically sensitive constituencies.
According to the reported final results, Rath secured 1,64,427 votes, while Pradhan received 41,674 votes. Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Santi Gopal Giri finished third with 5,779 votes. The BJP’s margin made the contest one of the most closely watched political developments in the state’s by-election results.
The Nandigram seat fell vacant after Suvendu Adhikari, who won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the Assembly elections, retained Bhabanipur. The by-election therefore attracted considerable attention, given Nandigram’s association with Adhikari and its history as a major centre of political mobilisation in West Bengal.
Gratitude to the people for their continuous blessings!
The Lok Sabha result of Nagaon (Assam) and Assembly results of Nandigram as well as Rejinagar (West Bengal) show yet again that the people have a deep-rooted connect with the good governance agenda of BJP-NDA.
I congratulate the victorious BJP candidates and also applaud the hardwork of our Party Karyakartas.
I also congratulate our valued NDA ally, the AINRC, for their win in Thattanchavady in Puducherry.
This mandate will give us added strength as we work tirelessly for the welfare of the people and to fulfil their aspirations for a brighter and more prosperous future.
@BJP4Assam
@BJP4Bengal
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 9, 2026
The result also assumes significance ahead of future electoral contests in the state. Nandigram has remained a focal point of the rivalry between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), particularly since the 2021 Assembly election, when Adhikari defeated then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the constituency.
Reacting to the victory, Adhikari congratulated Rath and described the result as a historic mandate. He credited the party’s organisational efforts and attributed the outcome to public support for the BJP’s leadership and development agenda. These were the BJP’s political interpretations of the verdict; the result itself does not establish that every voter supported the party for the same reason.
The outcome also drew criticism from the opposition. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim alleged irregularities in the by-election and questioned the circumstances surrounding the BJP’s victory. Such allegations and the party’s response remain matters of political dispute and should be distinguished from the officially declared result.
The BJP also won the Rejinagar Assembly by-election in Murshidabad district, extending its success across both constituencies contested in the state. Together, the results provided the party with an additional opportunity to consolidate its position in the West Bengal Assembly and intensified political debate over the state’s changing electoral landscape.
