The Opposition INDIA bloc was leading in at least 10 of the 13 assembly seats, according to early trends as the counting for bypolls across seven states was underway on July 13.
INDIA bloc allies were leading in assembly seats in West Bengal (4), Himachal Pradesh (3) Uttarakhand (2) and Tamil Nadu (1) as per the early trends.
The BJP-led NDA was leading in two of the 13 seats, say initial trends by Election Commission of India.
Ruling Trinamool Congress was leading in all four seats of West Bengal, Congress was ahead in both seats of Uttarakhand and all three seats of Himachal Pradesh, DMK was leading in the sole seat in Tamil Nadu that went to the bypolls, by 11 am. For the sole seal of Jalandhar West in Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party candidate was ahead of its Congress rival as per initial trends.
The NDA was leading in two seats. In Bihar, Janata Dal (United), a BJP ally, was ahead while in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP candidate was leading in early trends.
Bypolls to these 13 assembly seats in seven states, held on July 10, were necessitated following vacancies created due to deaths or resignations of incumbent MLAs from different parties.
The bypolls are seen as significant test for the opposition INDIA bloc as it faced off against the Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA) in first electoral battle after Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
The elections, the results of which was announced on June 4, saw the BJP falling short of majority and opposition INDIA bloc gaining strength. The BJP finally bagged 240 Lok Sabha seats – 32 short of the majority.
Narendra Modi took oath Prime Minister for the third record time as BJP-led NDA managed to cross the halfway mark of 272 with an overall 293 seats. The Congress-led INDIA bloc clinched 232 seats.
The seats that had gone to polls included Rupauli in Bihar; Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala in West Bengal; Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu; Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Jalandhar West in Punjab; and Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh.
Of the 13 seats which went to the polls, the BJP, the Congress and the TMC had each held two, while one seat each was held by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal (United), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Independents held the remaining three seats.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)
