October 2026 Assembly By-Election Results: BJP and TVK Make Gains as Regional Politics Takes Centre Stage

By-Elections Offer a Snapshot of India's Changing Political Landscape

Assembly by-elections can offer political parties an important opportunity to test their local organisation, candidate selection and voter outreach between major election cycles. Although a by-election covers a limited number of constituencies, its results can attract wider attention when national and regional parties compete for seats.

The Election Commission of India's official results portal for October 2026 lists outcomes from five Assembly constituencies: Thattanchavady in Puducherry, Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu, and Rejinagar and Nandigram in West Bengal. According to the portal, the All India N.R. Congress candidate won Thattanchavady, TVK candidates won Madurantakam and Dharapuram, and BJP candidates won Rejinagar and Nandigram.

These results place three different political settings in the same electoral picture: Puducherry's regional political competition, Tamil Nadu's contest involving established parties and TVK, and West Bengal's competition among BJP and other parties.

The official portal provides candidate names, party affiliations and vote totals. It also carries an important disclaimer: the figures are entered by Returning Officers at counting centres, and final constituency data are to be shared in Form 20. Readers should therefore distinguish the results displayed on the portal from any later finalised statistical analysis.

What the Election Commission's Results Show

The results portal lists the following winners:

• Nandigram, West Bengal: Hasi Rani Rath of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

• Rejinagar, West Bengal: ShankharavhSarkar of the BJP.

• Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu: K. Maragatham Kumaravel of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

• Dharapuram, Tamil Nadu: P. Sathyabama of TVK.

• Thattanchavady, Puducherry: Ashok Anand of the All India N.R. Congress.

West Bengal: BJP Candidates Win in Nandigram and Rejinagar

In Nandigram, the ECI results page lists Hasi Rani Rath of the BJP with 164,427 votes, or 75.94 per cent of the votes shown on the portal. Congress candidate Milan Pradhan received 41,674 votes, or 19.25 per cent. The difference between the two displayed totals is 122,753 votes.

The same results page lists other candidates from the Communist Party of India, All India Secular Front, Democratic Trinamool Congress and smaller parties, alongside independent candidates and NOTA.

In Rejinagar, the ECI results portal lists Shankharavh Sarkar of the BJP as the winner.

Tamil Nadu: TVK Wins in Madurantakam and Dharapuram

The October by-election results also list TVK candidates as winners in two Tamil Nadu constituencies.

In Madurantakam, the ECI portal records 74,048 votes for K. Maragatham Kumaravel of TVK. DMK candidate I. Paranthamen received 54,008 votes, while AIADMK candidate S. Kanithasampath received 47,450 votes. The difference between the TVK and DMK totals shown on the portal is 20,040 votes.

In Dharapuram, the portal lists P. Sathyabama of TVK with 66,841 votes. DMK candidate S. Suganya received 57,370 votes, while AIADMK candidate K. Banumathi received 45,280 votes. The displayed difference between the TVK and DMK totals is 9,471 votes.

In Thattanchavady, Puducherry

The ECI portal lists Ashok Anand of the All India N.R. Congress as the winner with 13,358 votes. Congress candidate E. Vinayagam received 4,876 votes, while DMK candidate K. Sethu received 2,664 votes. The displayed difference between the first two candidates is 8,482 votes.

Puducherry has a distinct political environment as a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly. Its regional political competition should be assessed in that context rather than directly equated with contests in larger states.

Why these By-Elections Matter?

By-elections do not change the overall political balance of a state in the same way as a full Assembly election, but they can provide parties with information about their local strengths and weaknesses.

For a winning party, a victory can strengthen the position of its local organisation and elected representative. For a losing party, the result can trigger a review of candidate selection, campaigning, voter contact and constituency-level alliances.

The BJP's listed wins in two West Bengal constituencies, TVK's listed wins in two Tamil Nadu constituencies, and the All India N.R. Congress victory in Puducherry represent different regional political contexts. Each should be analysed separately before drawing wider conclusions.

Conclusion: Local Results Matter, but Context Matters More

The October 2026 by-election results portal records victories for the BJP in Nandigram and Rejinagar, TVK in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, and the All India N.R. Congress in Thattanchavady.

These outcomes are useful indicators of constituency-level political competition. They are not, by themselves, proof of a statewide shift or a prediction of future Assembly election results.