Following the announcement of results of bypolls in the state and the Assembly elections in five states, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday thanked voters for ensuring the victory of Congress candidates in the by-elections in Bagalkot and Davanagere, stating that the mandate reflects both the achievements of his government and the enduring strength of the party's ideology. (IANS)

The BJP also secured a decisive victory in the Umreth Assembly by-election in Gujarat's Anand district, with its candidate Harshad Parmar winning by a margin of more than 30,000 votes after the completion of 23 rounds of counting.

The bypoll, held on April 23, was necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar. (IANS)

BJP candidate Daochier I Imchen won the by-election to the Koridang assembly segment in Nagaland by 3,123 votes on Monday, according to the Election Commission.

He secured 7,317 votes, defeating Independent candidate Toshikaba, who polled 4,194 votes.

"In Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland and Tripura, our candidates have received the blessings of the people and have won. NDA leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has also registered a significant victory. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of all these states for their support," says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In his victory speech on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Pawar congratulated Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on her win.

On Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar's win from Baramati, the state's Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde said people voted in favour of Ajit Pawar's progressive ideas.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of then Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28.

The Karnataka Congress on Monday congratulated its candidates, who won the two Assembly seats in the bypolls. "Congratulations to the capable Shama Muru, who won in the Davanagere South Assembly Constituency by-election, and to Umesh Meti, who triumphed in the Bagalkot Assembly Constituency by-election," the party said in a post on X.

Pradyut Bordoloi defeated Congress' Mira Borthakur Goswami and independent candidate Jayanta Kumar Das in Dispur. Bordoloi polled 1,03,337 votes, while Goswami secured 53,670 votes.

Senior BJP leader Arvind Sharma was on Monday elected unopposed to the Bihar legislative council, in a bypoll necessitated by the resignation of former state minister Mangal Pandey, an official said.

Sharma was handed over his certificate by Returning Officer Chhote Lal Paswan upon the expiry of the period for withdrawal of nomination papers at 3 pm, as no other candidate had entered the fray.

Gujarat Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel, on Monday congratulated BJP candidate Harshad Parmar following his victory in the Umreth Assembly bye-election, thanking voters for their support and reaffirming the government's development agenda.

In a post on X, Patel said, "Heartfelt congratulations to Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Harshadbhai Parmar on the resounding victory in the Umreth Assembly bye-election. Many congratulations as well to all the dedicated party workers.

"I will never let down the trust that the people of Baramati have placed in me. I assure you all that I will always stand firmly by your side in times of joy and sorrow," says Sunetra Pawar after Baramati win.

"I thank all the voters of Bagalkote and Davangere. Our guarantees are alive. It is the victory of the people of Karnataka," says DK Shivakumar after Congress wins key bypolls in Karnataka.

BJP's Pradyut Bordoloi, who switched over from the Congress ahead of the Assam assembly polls, won the prestigious Dispur constituency by defeating Mira Barthakur Goswami by 49,667 votes, according to the Election Commission.

Bordoloi polled 1,03,337 votes, while Goswami of the Congress secured 53,670 votes.

"All the conspiracies hatched by BJP and people who wanted to defeat the Congress party are exposed. The people of Davangere have given a clear-cut mandate. All the confusion which was created amongst the Muslim community, all the communities together have blessed the Congress Party. A new model of elections was being tried by the BJP and all smaller parties to defeat Congress through division of votes," says Karnataka Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad.

Winning NCP candidate from Baramati Sunetra Pawar's son Jay Pawar urged supporters to not hold celebrations. "None of us wanted to have such an election. There has also been an unfortunate incident in neighbouring Bhor tehsil (where a four-year-old child was raped and murdered). We do not wish to celebrate this victory," Jay Pawar told reporters.

Jay Pawar said the success was not a solitary effort. "I was not alone in this. Every well-wisher was with us in this campaign and voting. We could achieve it only because of it," he stated.

NCP's Sunetra Pawar won with a record margin in Maharashtra's Baramati, outdoing her husband Ajit Pawar's record.

She got over 2 lakh votes more than the RY Ghutukade, who came a far second with under 1,000 votes.

Congress candidate from Karnataka's Davangere South Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun won by a slim margin of 5,708 votes. He emerged victorious over BJP's Shrinivas Dasakariyappa.

BJP's Akshay Kardile won from the Rahuri seat in Maharashtra. He emerged victorious with a sizeable margin of over 1,12,000 votes over NCP (SP)'s Govind Mokate.

Here is a snapshot of the bypoll results so far:

Congress' Umesh Meti, who had contested the bypoll from Karnataka's Bagalkot after his father HY Meti's death left it vacant, has won with a margin of over 22,000 votes.

He was pitted against BJP's Charantimath Veerabhadrayya.

Counting is underway in Davangere South, where Congress' Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun is leading with a margin of over 5,800 votes in the 19th of 21 rounds of counting.

While the bypoll results will have no bearing on the Karnataka government's future, the Congress' victories in the seats will come at a time the party's state unit faces "internal unrest".

BJP candidate Harshad Parmar won from Gujarat's Umreth constituency with a margin of 85,500 votes.

He defeated Congress' Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan and three Independents.

Leading with a thumping margin of over 70,000 votes in Baramati, NCP's Sunetra Pawar urged supporters to avoid victory rallies.

While NCP's Sunetra Pawar is leading in Baramati, BJP candidates are leading in five of the seats where counting of votes cast in bypolls is being conducted. In Karnataka's Bagalkot, Congress' Umesh Meti is ahead.

BJP 's Shrinivasa Kariyappa is leading by 5,700 votes after third tound in Davanagere South bypolls. Following is the vote count:

1. Samarth Shyamanur (Congress) - 11,953 votes

2. Srinivas Das Kariyappa (BJP) - 17,654 votes

3. Afsar Kodlipete (SDPI) - 1,935 votes

Muslim disgruntlement was touted to be a concern for the Congress in Davanagere South, with 14 of the 25 candidates in the fray belonging to the community. This posed a risk of votes being split, harming the prospects of major parties.

Per current Election Commission data though, the community factor failed. Only two of the 14 Muslim candidates are among the top five from the seat and are trailing far behind the Dasakariyappa and Shyamanur.

The counting day is here. Officials are ready. But then the keys to the EVM strongroom in Karnataka are missing, delaying the vote count. A man, with a hammer and chisel, is having a go at the locks, trying to find a way into the all-important room, with security personnel standing guard. The room contains the ballots for Davanagere South bypolls.

The polls were necessitated by the death of Shamanur Shivashankarappa. The votes will also be counted for Bagalkot bypolls.

Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.

Umreth, Gujarat: BJP's Harshad Parmar is leading

Bagalkot, Karnataka: Congress' Umesh Meti

Davangere South, Karnataka: BJP's Shrinivas T Dasakariyappa

Baramati, Maharashtra: NCP's Sunetra Pawar

Rahuri, Maharashtra: BJP's Akshay Kardile

Koridang, Nagaland: Counting in progress

Dharmanagar, Tripura: BJP's Jahar Chakraborti

(Election Commission Data)

BJP's Akshay Kardile has taken the lead in Maharashtra's Rahuri, a seat earlier held by his father Shivaji Kardile. He is ahead with a margin of over 4,200 votes, with VBA, NCP (SP) and Independents trailing behind.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is leading from Baramati and is expected to cruise smoothly to a win.

Nagaland's Koridang seat in Mokokchung district saw a multi-cornered contest after the death of BJP MLA Imkong L Imchen. Six candidates are in the fray, including BJP's Daochier I Imchen, who is also the consensus nominee of the ruling alliance, along with Congress, NPP and Independent candidates.

In Tripura, the Dharmanagar seat witnessed a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front after the death of Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen in December. The key candidates include BJP's Jahar Chakraborti, Congress's Chayan Bhattacharjee and CPI(M)'s Amitabha Datta.

The counting of votes cast in the Karnataka bypolls in Bagalkot and Davangere South will begin soon. But at the centre of the what the results will signify is Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, holding the party together, even as questions remain over his own future.

The bypolls in Bagalkot and Davanagere South were not just local contests. They turned into a test of how united the Karnataka Congress really is. While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continues to lead the government, much of the political groundwork and damage control has been handled by Shivakumar amid ongoing internal rift.

Read story here

The Congress approached the Supreme Court against the cancellation of the Ponda assembly seat byelection in Goa, party leader Girish Chodankar said. The people of Ponda deserved to vote and have their MLA. Campaigns were fought, ballots were issued, candidates were ready, but just 16 hours before polling, the bye-election was struck down, he noted.

The Aam Aadmi Party alleged a "political conspiracy" between the Election Commission of India and BJP. Addressing a press conference during the day, Goa AAP president Valmiki Naik alleged the bypoll notification was deliberately delayed by the ECI to ensure the tenure of the new MLA would be less than a year.

The Bombay High Court's Goa bench on April 8 quashed the Election Commission of India's notification for the Ponda byelection in Goa, citing violation of the Representation of the People Act, as the legislature's term is set to expire in less than a year.

Two registered voters in the constituency had moved the HC challenging the validity of the notification on the ground that less than one year of the current Goa legislative assembly's term was left. The term will expire on March 14, 2027.

The court agreed with the contention, noting that as the result would have been declared on May 4, the winning candidate would have got only about nine months as an MLA.

After Ajit Pawar's death, Sunetra Pawar replaced him as deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti alliance government on January 31.

According to the constitutional provisions, she will have to become a member of one of the two houses of the state legislature - assembly or council - within six months of taking oath.

With the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) along with state security personnel, elaborate multi-layered security arrangements, CCTV surveillance, and strict access control measures have been put in place at the Mokokchung District Deputy Commissioner's office, where counting for the by-election to the Koridang Assembly constituency in Nagaland will take place.

Election-related violence was reported in the constituency on April 5 and 6, which resulted in one death.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar, who is contesting her first assembly poll, is most likely to sail through riding a sympathy wave, and given her family's strong hold on the constituency.

No major political party has fielded candidates against her, making her election a mere formality. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) did not field any candidate against Sunetra Pawar, giving a virtual walkover to her. Congress had fielded Akash More but the party later decided to withdraw his name.

During the voting process, she urged voters to support her as a tribute to her late husband Ajit Pawar.

Ajit Pawar had won the Baramati Assembly seat, a bastion of the extended Pawar family, for the last several decades. 

Counting of votes for bypolls to two assembly constituencies in Karnataka -- Bagalkot and Davanagere South -- will be held on May 4. Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP. While the Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP aims to wrest them and deliver a setback to the ruling party, which is currently witnessing an "internal power struggle" over leadership.