BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, mother of slain Suvendu Adhikari aide Chandranath Rath, secured 1,64,427 votes in the Nandigram Assembly bypoll.
Published: October 9, 2026, 5:58 PM IST
Share Article
https://www.india.com/news/india/hasi-rani-rath-shankharavh-sarkar-bring-bjp-bypoll-wins-in-nandigram-rejinagar-8534426/
BJP won both seats in Rejinagar and Nandigram in the West bengal Assemly electionsPTI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly bypolls in West BengalIts candidates, Hasirani Rath and Shankharavh Sarkar, defeated their respective opponents by substantial margins.
In Nandigram, Rath defeated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan by 1,22,753 votes, securing 1,64,427 votes, or 75.94 per cent of the totalPradhan received 41,674 votes, accounting for 19.25 per cent of the votes polled.
Election Commission of India data shows Rath secured 1,64,427 votes, comprising 1,63,630 EVM votes and 797 postal ballots, a 75.94 per cent share of the total polledPradhan finished second with 41,674 votes, made up of 41,521 EVM votes and 153 postal votes, giving him 19.25 per cent.
All about Hasi Rani Rath
Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who was killed in May, days after the BJP’s victory in the state Assembly electionsThe BJP backed Rath in the bypoll as the constituency returned to the polls following Adhikari’s decision to retain Bhabanipur.
In Rejinagar, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar secured 1,29,914 votes and defeated Golam Nabi Azad (Robin) of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, who polled 54,098, winning by 75,816 votes.
Why were bypolls held in Nandigram?
A by-election in Nandigram was necessitated after West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari gave up the seat and retained Bhabanipur, where he defeated former chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2026 Assembly pollsAdhikari had won both seats.
The Rejinagar Assembly bypoll was triggered after Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir vacated the seatKabir had won both Rejinagar and Naoda in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and opted to retain Naoda, necessitating a by-election in Rejinagar.
The contest was closely watched as an early electoral test for the BJP government, which ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in West Bengal earlier this year.
