PM Narendra Modi hails BJP by-election victories in West Bengal and Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked voters and praised party workers after the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies swept a series of legislative by-elections in West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry.

The voting, which took place on Tuesday with ballots counted on Friday, saw the BJP claim victory in two assembly constituencies in West Bengal and a Lok Sabha seat in Assam. Meanwhile, the All India NR Congress, a key ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, won an assembly seat in Puducherry.

Writing on the social media platform X, Modi expressed his gratitude to voters for their "continuous blessings." He said the results in the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam, alongside the Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly seats in West Bengal, showed that the public has a "deep-rooted connect" with the NDA's governance agenda.

Breakthroughs and strongholds in West Bengal and Assam

In West Bengal, the BJP secured a massive victory in Nandigram. The seat was vacated by Suvendu Adhikari, who chose to retain his Bhabanipur constituency instead. The BJP fielded Hasi Rani Rath, the mother of Adhikari's aide Chandranath Rath, who was shot dead shortly after the party's historic state-level win. Rath won 164,427 votes, defeating Milan Pradhan of the Congress party by a margin of 122,753 votes.

The BJP also secured Rejinagar. The by-election there was triggered by the resignation of AJUP leader Humayun Kabir. The BJP's candidate, Shankharavh Sarkar, won the seat with 129,914 votes, while Kabir's son, Golam Nabi Azad, finished a distant second with 54,098 votes.

In Assam, the BJP wrested the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat from the Congress. Its candidate, Devasish Sharma, established an unbeatable lead of more than 1.5 lakh votes as the final counts were completed. The seat had been vacant since February, when Pradyut Bordoloi left the Congress to join the BJP.

In Puducherry, the AINRC secured the Thattanchavady seat, which became vacant after Chief Minister N Rangasamy chose to retain his other seat in Mangalam. The AINRC nominee, Ashok Anand, won with 13,358 votes, comfortably defeating Congress challenger E Vinayagam, who finished second with 4,876 votes.

Protest restrictions criticized at Mumbai conclave

While the Prime Minister and his party celebrated these electoral gains, a very different political discussion was taking place in Mumbai. At an industry conclave, representative figures from independent political groups and the Cockroach Janata Party raised serious concerns about growing restrictions on democratic dissent.

Speakers at the event criticized the heavy security deployment and travel restrictions ahead of a planned protest in New Delhi, dubbed "Jantar Mantar 2.0." The organizers alleged that the state had deployed security forces from Jammu and Kashmir as well as Naxal-affected areas to prevent demonstrators from reaching the capital. They also accused authorities of disrupting metro and railway services to block protesters.

The leaders argued that these measures violate the right to peaceful protest guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution. They claimed the Delhi Police had refused to engage with them despite receiving official advance notice. According to the organizers, the planned demonstration is aimed at protesting what they allege is coordination between the Election Commission and the ruling BJP to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.