In the first major electoral battle after the recent Lok Sabha poll results, the INDIA bloc parties gained five seats, winning 10 of the 13 Assembly seats across seven states in the bypolls. The BJP retained only two of its three seats in West Bengal, while its ally JD(U) lost its seat in Bihar to an Independent candidate.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal achieved significant gains, retaining its seat and capturing three more from the BJP. The Congress, which had two seats (one each in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand), lost its seat in Madhya Pradesh but gained one more in Uttarakhand and two in Himachal Pradesh. The other INDIA bloc allies – DMK and AAP – retained their single seats in Tamil Nadu and Punjab respectively. The BSP lost its single seat in Uttarakhand.

Overall, the results favored the ruling parties in the states. The ruling TMC won all four seats in West Bengal, and the ruling Congress won two of the three seats in Himachal Pradesh. Similarly, the ruling parties won the single seats in Punjab (AAP), Madhya Pradesh (BJP), and Tamil Nadu (DMK). However, in Uttarakhand and Bihar, the candidates of the ruling parties – BJP and JD(U) respectively – were defeated by the Congress in Uttarakhand and an Independent in Bihar.

In Himachal Pradesh, only one of the three Independent MLAs who contested as BJP candidates retained his seat. Congress candidates Kamlesh Thakur and Hardeep Singh Bawa won in Dehra and Nalagarh, respectively, while BJP’s Ashish Sharma retained the Hamirpur seat.

In West Bengal, TMC re-established its dominance, retaining its seat and capturing three more from the BJP. In Uttarakhand, the Congress retained Badrinath and wrested Manglaur from the BSP. In Bihar, Independent candidate Shankar Singh won the Rupauli seat, defeating JD(U)’s Kaladhar Prasad Mandal. In Punjab, the ruling AAP retained its Jalandhar West seat, with its candidate Mohinder Bhagat winning by a comfortable margin.