Archive · 9 Oct 2026
Bypoll Results Offer Clues on Vote Theft and Gen Z Politics
By-elections are smaller elections held to fill seats that become empty.
The BJP did well in these contests, while the Congress and the AITC lost support in some places.
In Assam, many fewer voters chose the Congress in Nagaon than in the 2024 election.
In West Bengal, the Opposition’s vote share also fell in two bypolls.
The DMK’s share slipped a little in two Tamil Nadu contests.
The article says these local results cannot tell us what the whole country thinks.
It also says the results do not show that protests about alleged vote theft changed how people voted.
Vijay’s party won two Tamil Nadu bypolls, which the article sees as a sign of his continuing appeal to young voters.
The article suggests students may still be unsure whether mainstream parties can represent their concerns about education and jobs.
The bypolls across three states and one Union Territory boosted the BJP, while Congress and the All India Trinamool Congress suffered setbacks.
In Assam’s Nagaon constituency, Congress finished third, with its vote share falling from 51% in 2024 to about 9%; the AIUDF’s Badruddin Ajmal gained votes.
In West Bengal, the joint Opposition candidate’s vote share fell in Nandigram, while the AITC’s share in Rejinagar dropped from 17.43% to 1.87%.
The DMK’s vote share declined slightly in the Dharapuram and Madurantakam Assembly bypolls.
The article says the results are not a national verdict, and that Vijay’s party’s wins in two Tamil Nadu bypolls indicate continuing support among Gen Z.
- Who
- The BJP, Congress, AITC, DMK and Vijay’s party, among other candidates and parties.
- What
- Bypoll results brought gains for the BJP and setbacks for the Congress and AITC; the article assesses their implications for vote-theft politics and Gen Z protests.
- When
- The results were reported on Friday; the bypolls took place after the Assembly elections six months earlier in the cited constituencies.
- Where
- Five Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha constituency across Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
- Why
- The bypolls were held to fill vacant seats; the article discusses whether their results show voter response to protests over alleged vote theft and youth concerns.
- Contests
- Five Assembly and one Lok Sabha constituency across three states and one Union Territory.
- Nagaon Congress vote share
- About 9% in the bypoll, down from 51% in 2024.
- Nagaon AIUDF result
- Badruddin Ajmal received 5.68 lakh votes, compared with 1.37 lakh for the AIUDF candidate in 2024.
- Nandigram Opposition vote share
- 19.25%, down from 46.55% in the Assembly election six months earlier.
- Rejinagar AITC vote share
- 1.87%, down from 17.43% six months earlier.
- Dharapuram DMK vote share
- 31.52%, down from 32.20%.
- Madurantakam DMK vote share
- About 29.15%, down from 31.32%.