Ranchi:

After registering a decisive victory in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, Hemant Soren is set to take oath as Chief Minister on Monday, sources said. Mr Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance triumphed in the polls, setting the stage for him to return as Chief Minister. Despite facing a fierce challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA alliance, which mounted an aggressive campaign, the JMM managed to secure 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, far surpassing the BJP’s 24. 

According to sources, Mr Soren will meet Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar today to stake claim to form the government. 

Hemant Soren’s Trials, Tribulations 

Mr Soren, who had faced political turmoil this year, including a legal battle and an arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), emerged stronger than ever. in the recent polls. The 49-year-old won from the Barhait constituency, where he defeated BJP’s Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes. 

READ | NDA Decimates Opposition In Maharashtra, Jharkhand Stays With INDIA

After his release on bail earlier this year, Mr Soren returned to the political fray with renewed vigour. His wife, Kalpana Soren, who played a key role in keeping the JMM ship steady in his absence, won her seat in Gandey with a margin of 17,142 votes. 

In a statement following the election results, Mr Soren expressed gratitude to the people of Jharkhand, terming the INDIA bloc’s strong showing as a “passing of the exam of democracy.” The JMM’s victory is widely seen as a reaffirmation of the tribal vote’s loyalty to Mr Soren’s leadership, despite the best efforts by the BJP to wrest power from the incumbent government.

BJP: Aggressive Yet Unsuccessful

The BJP, led by prominent figures such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, launched a high-octane campaign targeting the Soren-led government’s alleged corruption and accusations of fostering “infiltration” from Bangladesh. Despite the extensive reach of the BJP’s campaign, which included rallies by the party’s top brass, the NDA’s strategy fell flat, failing to replicate its Maharashtra victory.

The BJP contested 68 seats and secured only 21, with its vote share standing at 33.18 per cent, a figure that was still higher than JMM’s 23.44 per cent, but not enough to secure a majority. 

READ | Hemant Soren Shuts Jharkhand Door To NDA, What He Said In Victory Speech

The party faced internal bickering, especially regarding nominations for “turncoat” candidates, with several prominent party leaders, such as former BJP members Kedar Hazra and Louis Marandi, switching allegiance to the JMM just ahead of the elections. Some analysts argue that the BJP’s inability to project a local tribal leader as the face of its campaign in Jharkhand was a tactical misstep.

JMM’s Winning Strategy

The JMM’s campaign focused heavily on welfare schemes aimed at addressing the economic challenges faced by the state’s rural population. One of the key policies that resonated with the voters was the Maiyan Samman Yojna, a scheme that provides financial assistance to women in the age group of 18-50 years. Initially offering Rs 1,000 per month, the JMM promised to increase this amount to Rs 2,500 after the election results. 

In addition to this, Mr Soren’s government waived farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, benefiting over 1.75 lakh farmers. Other populist measures included the waiver of outstanding electricity bills and the introduction of a free electricity scheme for up to 200 units, which particularly appealed to lower-income households. 

The JMM’s victory is not just a win for Mr Soren, but also for his family’s deep connection with the state’s tribal communities. His father, Shibu Soren, the JMM’s founding leader and a former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, remains an influential figure in state politics. Both Shibu Soren and his wife, Rupi Soren, were seen blessing their son and daughter-in-law after the election results.
 

New Delhi:

The “None of the Above” (NOTA) option had minimal impact in the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections. According to Election Commission (EC) data, only 0.75 per cent of voters in Maharashtra and 1.32 per cent in Jharkhand chose NOTA over the listed candidates.

The voter turnout, however, was robust in both states. Maharashtra recorded a 65.02 per cent turnout in its single-phase election on November 20, while Jharkhand’s turnout reached 66.65 per cent and 68.45 per cent across its two phases on November 13 and 20, respectively.

Introduced in 2013 following a Supreme Court directive, NOTA offers voters an option to reject all candidates while maintaining ballot secrecy, an improvement over the earlier Form 49-O system. Despite its availability, the feature has remained a fringe choice, with less than 2 per cent of voters consistently opting for it in recent elections.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is set to retain power, delivering a blow to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. The opposition MVA, comprising Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), trailed far behind. 

Prominent BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar, were leading in their respective constituencies. Senior Congress figures such as Nana Patole, Prithviraj Chavan, and Balasaheb Thorat were trailing.

In Jharkhand, Hemant Soren’s JMM-led alliance appeared poised to retain power, leading in 56 of the 81 assembly seats as per the latest EC data. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) performed below expectations, leading in just 23 constituencies.

The JMM’s campaign, which focused on tribal identity and invoked public sympathy following Mr Soren’s legal troubles, resonated with voters, particularly in regions like Santhal Parganas. The BJP’s focus on issues such as “infiltrators” seemed to falter in comparison.

New Delhi:

As the JMM-led INDIA bloc crossed the majority mark in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, Chief Minister Hemant Soren took to social media to share a photograph of him and his children. The JMM chief and his wife Kalpana Soren are parents to two boys. Sharing a picture of his two sons, he wrote, “My strength.” 

The ruling JMM-led alliance – which includes the Congress and the RJD – under Mr Soren’s leadership, appears poised to secure a majority in the 81-member Assembly, as per the latest Election Commission data. With leads in 51 seats, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance seems to have effectively countered the BJP-led NDA, which was ahead in 29 constituencies.

मेरी शक्ति pic.twitter.com/6NP6O6Vl7R

— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) November 23, 2024

The BJP entered the fray with aggressive campaigning, focusing on issues such as “infiltrators” in the Santhal Parganas region. However, this narrative appears to have been overshadowed by the JMM’s emphasis on tribal identity and local pride, particularly amidst controversies surrounding Mr Soren’s legal battles and allegations of corruption.

According to the latest trends, the JMM was leading in 31 seats, the Congress in 14, and the RJD in four. The BJP held 26 leads, while smaller parties, including the AJSU Party and LJP (Ram Vilas), were ahead in a few scattered constituencies.

Key figures in the race include BJP state president Babulal Marandi, who maintained a lead in Dhanwar, and Congress heavyweight Rameshwar Oraon, who led in Lohardaga. On the JMM front, Mr Soren himself held a comfortable lead in Barhait, while his wife, Kalpana Soren, was trailing in Gandey.

The elections saw a record voter turnout of 67.74%, the highest since Jharkhand’s formation in 2000. Held in two phases on November 13 and 20, the polls reflected a deeply divided electorate. Exit polls had predicted a range of outcomes, with some forecasting a clear NDA win, while others saw the JMM-led bloc emerging victorious.

The JMM’s steady climb in the early hours of counting, despite a BJP surge, highlights the shifting dynamics of Jharkhand’s political landscape. The party’s grassroots connections, coupled with its emphasis on tribal rights and welfare, seem to have paid dividends against the BJP’s focus on national issues.

As counting progresses, the INDIA bloc appears confident of crossing the majority mark of 41 seats. If the trends hold, Hemant Soren is set to return as Chief Minister, buoyed by what he has described as the “strength” drawn not just from his family but also from the people of Jharkhand.

New Delhi:

Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party offshoot led by Ajit Pawar, have apparently flipped a chunk of seats – over 70 – from their parent parties to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Maharashtra Assembly election.

The flip underlines the impact of the Sena and NCP split – the former in 2022 and the latter a year later – on the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi’s fortunes. Sans those 70-odd seats, it cannot hope to counter a BJP that has dominated today, and is set for its best ever score in a Maharashtra election.

At 12.30 pm the BJP was leading in 124 of the Maharashtra Assembly’s 288 seats.

The MVA – decimated after claiming victory in the April-June federal election, in which it won 30 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats – had only 53 to its name. The gap is 70-odd seats – almost exactly the number of seats the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP have won from their parent parties.

READ | NDA Set For Maharashtra Sweep, Powered By BJP’s Best-Ever Score

Its solo show aside, the BJP will still, most likely, need the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar’s seats to cross the majority mark of 145. And it is those two that will put its larger ally out of reach of the MVA.

Overall, the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar are on course to win 93 seats.

Where Did The 93 Come From?

Only a small chunk – around 14 – comes from seats are those contested by other parties, mostly the BJP or Congress, in 2019 and given to the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar this time.

The rest have been flipped from their parent parties, and this, potentially, is one of the areas where the Maha Vikas Aghadi lost this election.

The Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP contested 81 and 59 seats in this election, and they are leading in 57 and 37 seats, respectively.

On the other side, Thackeray’s Sena contested 95 seats but is leading only in 18, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP contested 86 seats but is leading only in 13.

Of the Shinde Sena’s 57 leads, at least 40 are seats won by the undivided Sena in the 2019 election. Similarly, of Ajit Pawar’s NCP’s 37 leads, a staggering 32 were won by Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

Had the Sena and NCP not split, it would have handed the MVA those 70-odd seats.

These would not, perhaps, have been enough for the Maha Vikas Aghadi to win this election, but it would certainly have been enough to push the BJP to a much closer finish.

What Exit Polls Said

The MVA had only been given a (very) slim chance of upsetting the in-power BJP-led alliance’s applecart in the final election of the year; only one of 11 exit polls studied by NDTV believed it can win. Three others were on the fence but even they tilted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.

An average of those 11 exit polls gives the Mahayuti 155 seats and the MVA only 120, with smaller parties and independent candidates expected to get the remaining 13.

But a health warning: exit polls often get it wrong.

A majority of those exit polls predicted a big win for the Mahayuti.

READ | Mahayuti vs MVA On “Fraud” Exit Polls As Maharashtra Awaits Result

Across the aisle, only one – Electoral Edge – expected the Congress’ alliance to win and, even then, by five seats only, with 20 seats from smaller parties and independents in play for the BJP.

What Happened In 2019?

The 2019 election resulted in a thumping win for the BJP and the undivided Sena; the saffron party won 105 seats (down 17 from 2014) and its ally 56 (down seven).

However, two long-time allies fell out, quite spectacularly, in the following days after they failed to agree a power-sharing deal. Mr Thackeray then led his Sena into a surprise alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (then also undivided) to shut out a furious BJP.

Much to the surprise of many, the ruling tripartite alliance lasted for nearly three years despite the divergent political beliefs and ideologies of the Sena and the Congress-NCP.

Eventually, it was an internal rebellion led by Sena leader Eknath Shinde that ousted the MVA government. Mr Shinde led Sena lawmakers into a deal with the BJP, forcing Mr Thackeray to resign and allowing himself to be named as the new Chief Minister.

The NCP split a year later in a near-identical process that saw Ajit Pawar and lawmakers loyal to him joining the BJP-Shinde Sena, and he then became a Deputy Chief Minister.

Since then, Maharashtra politics has been roiled in controversy that extended to the Supreme Court, which heard petitions and cross-petitions on disqualification of MLAs and, in the build-up to this election, pleas on which Sena and NCP faction is the ‘real’ one.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

New Delhi:

The ruling Mahayuti sailed past the majority mark – 145 – in early leads as counting began Saturday for the Maharashtra Assembly election. The alliance – fronted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar – was ahead in 175 seats by 9.33 am. The Maha Vikas Aghadi  – the Congress and the Sena and NCP groups led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar – is ahead in 81.

Within the Mahayuti, it is the BJP that is ahead; the saffron party is leading in 96 of the 149 seats it is contesting. The Shinde Sena is ahead in 49 of the 81 it is contesting and Ajit Pawar’s NCP 30 of 59.

Across the aisle in the MVA, the Congress is leading in 32 of the 101 seats it has entered, while Sharad Pawar’s NCP is ahead in 24 of 86 and the Thackeray Sena in 24 of 95.

Big Names

Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, Ajit Pawar, and Aaditya Thackeray, the son of ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, are among the many big names contesting this election.

Also in the spotlight is Zeeshan Siddiqui of the Ajit Pawar NCP faction; Mr Siddiqui is the son of ex-Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui, who was shot dead by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang last month.

Eknath Shinde faces Thackeray Sena leader Kedar Dighe – the nephew of his mentor, Anand Dighe – for Thane’s Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat. At 9.30 am Mr Shinde led by over 4,000 votes.

Ajit Pawar faces a Pawar vs Pawar battle against uncle Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew, Yugendra Pawar, in the family stronghold of Baramati. Mr Pawar is leading that contest, for now.

READ | Ajit Pawar Ahead Of Nephew Yugendra In Baramati Family Battle

Aaditya Thackeray is up against ex-Congress veteran Milind Deora, who jumped to the Shinde Sena faction. The two are contesting the Worli Assembly seat, where Thackeray junior is 500 votes ahead.

READ | “My Karmabhoomi“: Milind Deora On Worli Battle vs Aaditya Thackeray

Zeeshan Siddiqui – who declared he would carry on his father’s “roar” – faces Varun Sardesai, Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew, in Bandra (East). Initial trends for this seat have not yet been declared.

Voting for this election took place in a single phase on Wednesday.

The Maharashtra Assembly has 288 seats and the majority mark is 145.

What Exit Polls Said

The MVA had only been given a (very) slim chance of upsetting the in-power BJP-led alliance’s applecart in the final election of the year; only one of 11 exit polls studied by NDTV believed it can win. Three others were on the fence but even they tilted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.

An average of those 11 exit polls gives the Mahayuti 155 seats and the MVA only 120, with smaller parties and independent candidates expected to get the remaining 13.

But a health warning: exit polls often get it wrong.

A majority of those exit polls predicted a big win for the Mahayuti.

READ | NDA Has Edge But 3 Exit Polls Predict Hung Assembly

Across the aisle, only one – Electoral Edge – expected the Congress’ alliance to win and, even then, by five seats only, with 20 seats from smaller parties and independents in play for the BJP.

However, Thackeray Sena MP Sanjay Raut has rubbished the predictions, pointing to incorrect previews of the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections and insisting the MVA will win.

READ | Mahayuti vs MVA On “Fraud” Exit Polls As Maharashtra Awaits Result

“They said Congress would win Haryana but what happened? They said Modiji would get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha… but what happened there? You will see… we will win 160-165 seats,” he declared.

Voter Turnout

Polling on Wednesday saw a voter turnout of 65.1 per cent – the highest since the 63.4 per cent recorded for the 2004 and 2014 elections and the second highest since 71.5 per cent in 1995.

The increased voter turnout has been flagged by both alliances as ‘proof positive’ that their side will emerge triumphant when votes are counted, although conventional wisdom suggests high voter turnout is bad news for the incumbent party or candidate.

READ | 65.1% Voter Turnout Is 2nd Highest 1990s, Highest In A Decade

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis declared, “Increase in voting percentage means it is in favour of the current government… it means people are supporting the current government.”

Race For Chief Minister’s Post

Meanwhile, away from the ballot boxes there is jostling and shoving offstage as senior figures within each alliance bid to replace Mr Shinde as Chief Minister. And that race looks to have exposed cracks in each alliance, with each party talking up its candidates for the top post.

Claims by the Congress’ state unit chief, Nana Patole, that his party would emerge as the single-largest and therefore be in pole position to pick the Chief Minister have been contested by Mr Raut, who said the final decision will be taken after victory is confirmed and by all stakeholders.

READ | Who Will Be Chief Minister? NDA, MVA Ministers Stake Claim

In the Mahayuti, the Shinde Sena and the BJP appear to be at odds on the same issue, with the former batting for Mr Shinde to continue and the latter pitching Mr Fadnavis, who was the Chief Minister when the BJP and (then) undivided Sena were in power between 2014 and 2019.

And the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar has thrown its hat in the ring too, on the back of hopes it will emerge as the ‘kingmaker’, although the question of which side it will help crown was waved away.

What Happened In 2019?

The 2019 election resulted in a thumping win for the BJP and the undivided Sena; the saffron party won 105 seats (down 17 from 2014) and its ally 56 (down seven).

However, two long-time allies fell out, quite spectacularly, in the following days after they failed to agree a power-sharing deal. Mr Thackeray then led his Sena into a surprise alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (then also undivided) to shut out a furious BJP.

Much to the surprise of many, the ruling tripartite alliance lasted for nearly three years despite the divergent political beliefs and ideologies of the Sena and the Congress-NCP.

Eventually, it was an internal rebellion led by Sena leader Eknath Shinde that ousted the MVA government. Mr Shinde led Sena lawmakers into a deal with the BJP, forcing Mr Thackeray to resign and allowing himself to be named as the new Chief Minister.

The NCP split a year later in a near-identical process that saw Ajit Pawar and lawmakers loyal to him joining the BJP-Shinde Sena, and he then became a Deputy Chief Minister.

Since then, Maharashtra politics has been roiled in controversy that extended to the Supreme Court, which heard petitions and cross-petitions on disqualification of MLAs and, in the build-up to this election, pleas on which Sena and NCP faction is the ‘real’ one.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

New Delhi:

Counting of votes for the Maharashtra Assembly election – a straight fight between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi – begins at 8 am, with a majority of the 11 exit polls studied by NDTV leaning heavily towards the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance.

The MVA – fronted by the Congress and the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar – has been given a (very) slim chance of upsetting the BJP’s applecart in the final major election of the year; only one exit poll believes it can win.

Three others are on the fence, although one has tilted towards the MVA and the other the Mahayuti, which includes the Sena and NCP groups led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

Voting for the Maharashtra Assembly’s 288 seats was held Wednesday in single phase. The majority mark is 145, and an average of the 11 exit polls gives the Mahayuti 155 seats.

The MVA is expected to get 120 seats and smaller parties and independent candidates 13.

But a health warning: exit polls often get it wrong.

Exit Poll Numbers

The nine exit polls that predict victory for the Mahayuti all expect it to be a dominant performance.

In fact, of those nine Axis-My India, Peoples Pulse, Poll Diary, and Today’s Chanakya have each given the BJP-led alliance a minimum of 175 seats. Chanakya Strategies, Matrize, and Times Now-JVC also expect victory for the BJP’s coalition, with at least 150 seats.

Across the aisle, only Electoral Edge expects the Congress’ alliance to win and, even then, by five seats only, with 20 seats from smaller parties and independents in play for the BJP.

READ | NDA Has Edge But 3 Of 11 Exit Polls Predict Hung Assembly

The Dainik Bhaskar, Lokshahi Marathi-Rudra, and P-Marq exit polls are on the fence, although the latter favours the Mahayuti with an upper prediction of 157 and the former the MVA with 150.

However, Thackeray Sena MP Sanjay Raut has rubbished the predictions, pointing to incorrect previews of the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections and insisting the MVA will win.

READ | Mahayuti vs MVA On “Fraud” Exit Polls As Maharashtra Awaits Result

“They said Congress would win Haryana but what happened? They said Modiji would get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha… but what happened there? You will see… we will win 160-165 seats,” he declared.

Voter Turnout

Polling on Wednesday saw a voter turnout of 65.1 per cent – the highest since the 63.4 per cent recorded for the 2004 and 2014 elections and the second highest since 71.5 per cent in 1995.

The increased voter turnout has been flagged by both alliances as ‘proof positive’ that their side will emerge triumphant when votes are counted, although conventional wisdom suggests high voter turnout is bad news for the incumbent party or candidate.

READ | 65.1% Voter Turnout Is 2nd Highest 1990s, Highest In A Decade

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis declared, “Increase in voting percentage means it is in favour of the current government… it means people are supporting the current government.”

Race For Chief Minister’s Post

Meanwhile, away from the ballot boxes there is jostling and shoving offstage as senior figures within each alliance bid to replace Mr Shinde as Chief Minister. And that race looks to have exposed cracks in each alliance, with each party talking up its candidates for the top post.

Claims by the Congress’ state unit chief, Nana Patole, that his party would emerge as the single-largest and therefore be in pole position to pick the Chief Minister have been contested by Mr Raut, who said the final decision will be taken after victory is confirmed and by all stakeholders.

READ | Who Will Be Chief Minister? NDA, MVA Ministers Stake Claim

In the Mahayuti, the Shinde Sena and the BJP appear to be at odds on the same issue, with the former batting for Mr Shinde to continue and the latter pitching Mr Fadnavis, who was the Chief Minister when the BJP and (then) undivided Sena were in power between 2014 and 2019.

And the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar has thrown its hat in the ring too, on the back of hopes it will emerge as the ‘kingmaker’, although the question of which side it will help crown was waved away.

What Happened In 2019?

The 2019 election resulted in a thumping win for the BJP and the undivided Sena; the saffron party won 105 seats (down 17 from 2014) and its ally 56 (down seven).

However, two long-time allies fell out, quite spectacularly, in the following days after they failed to agree a power-sharing deal. Mr Thackeray then led his Sena into a surprise alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (then also undivided) to shut out a furious BJP.

Much to the surprise of many, the ruling tripartite alliance lasted for nearly three years despite the divergent political beliefs and ideologies of the Sena and the Congress-NCP.

Eventually, it was an internal rebellion led by Sena leader Eknath Shinde that ousted the MVA government. Mr Shinde led Sena lawmakers into a deal with the BJP, forcing Mr Thackeray to resign and allowing himself to be named as the new Chief Minister.

The NCP split a year later in a near-identical process that saw Ajit Pawar and lawmakers loyal to him joining the BJP-Shinde Sena, and he then became a Deputy Chief Minister.

Since then, Maharashtra politics has been roiled in controversy that extended to the Supreme Court, which heard petitions and cross-petitions on disqualification of MLAs and, in the build-up to this election, pleas on which Sena and NCP faction is the ‘real’ one.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

New Delhi:

The counting of votes for byelections will begin at 8 am. Over the past few weeks, bypolls were held on 48 assembly seats in 14 states – Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Elections were also held on two Lok Sabha seats – Kerala’s Wayanad and Maharashtra’s Nanded.

These elections mark the electoral debut of Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is contesting in Wayanad, earlier held by her brother Rahul Gandhi. The election was necessitated in Wayanad after Rahul Gandhi won both Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats and decided to retain the latter.

Rahul Gandhi has been actively campaigning for his sister Priyanka Gandhi. In one of the election rallies, he said, “If she likes you, she will do whatever; beyond anything you can imagine. She is also going to like Wayanad a lot. You see, a huge part of being a good MP is that you like the people and place you work for. She is going to like it.”

READ | Will Priyanka Gandhi Be A Better MP For Wayanad? Rahul Gandhi Responds

The bypolls results for six assembly seats in West Bengal will be interesting and a test for the ruling Trinamool Congress as protests in the RG Kar rape and murder case continue.

The TMC hopes to maintain the momentum set since 2021, having won nearly all assembly by-polls, except Sagardighi in February 2023.

Here Are Live Updates On Bypoll Results 2024: