By-Poll Results: I.N.D.I. Alliance Set For A Poor Showing In First Test Since Formation? BJP-Led NDA Wins Two Seats, Leads In Two

In a major test for the I.N.D.I. Alliance ahead of the upcoming state elections and Lok Sabha elections, the counting of votes for seven bye-elections across six states - Jharkhand, Kerala, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal - began at 8 am today (8 September).

So far, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won bye-elections to the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly constituencies in Tripura, the Election Commission of India declared on Friday (8 September).

The bypolls at Dumri in Jharkhand, Puthuppally in Kerala, Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhupguri in West Bengal were held on 5 September and are being seen as the first electoral contest between the BJP-led NDA alliance and the Opposition bloc I.N.D.I. Alliance ahead of several Assembly polls in major states later this year.

The BJP-led NDA is also leading on two other seats - Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, and Dumri in Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, the Congress is poised for a victory in Kerala’s Puthuppally assembly constituency.

Congress candidate Chandy Oommen gained a lead of around 36,600 votes over his rival CPI(M)’s Jaick C Thomas, as of 1.40 pm.

In UP's Ghosi assembly constituency, Samajwadi Party secured an early lead with its candidate Sudhakar Singh leading BJP's Dara Singh Chauhan by over 19,000 votes.

In Jharkhand's Dumri seat, there's a close contest between I.N.D.I. Alliance partner JMM and NDA ally AJSU.

As of 1.40 pm, AJSU's Yashoda Devi is leading JMM's Bebi Devi by over 5,707 votes.

Meanwhile, after securing an early lead in West Bengal's Dhupgiri, BJP is now trailing behind TMC's candidate by over 3,700 votes.