Assembly Bypoll Results 2026: Congress Wins In Karnataka; BJP Retains 5 Seats, Sunetra Pawar Scripts History
Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar emerged victorious with record-breaking margin of 218,930 votes on the Baramati seat. BJP also secured victory in the Rahuri constituency.
Published : May 4, 2026 at 8:35 AM IST
|Updated : May 4, 2026 at 5:34 PM IST
New Delhi: As the vote counting for assembly by polls to seven seats across five states concluded, BJP won four seats while the Congress won two seats and the Nationalist Congress Party won the remaining one.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar emerged victorious with a record-breaking margin of 218,930 votes on the Baramati seat. BJP also secured victory in the Rahuri constituency.
The Counting began at 8 am on Monday in seven assembly by-elections across five states, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, and Tripura, got underway on Monday morning, amid tight security.
The by-elections were held in the Umreth constituency in Gujarat, two constituencies, Bagalkot and Davanagere South in Karnataka, and two seats in Maharashtra: Rahuri and Baramati, as well as Koridang in Nagaland and Dharmanagar in Tripura, in two phases on April 9 and April 23.
The by-election in Goa for the Ponda seat was cancelled just before polling day. The Bombay High Court on April 8 declared as "null and void" the Election Commission of India's notification for the Ponda Assembly byelection, effectively cancelling the April 9 poll, a decision the Congress said it would challenge in the Apex court.
Adequate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the counting and to ensure that no untoward incidents happen during or after the declaration of results, according to top police officials.
Multi-layer security deployment, CCTV surveillance, and strict access control are enforced at the counting venue. Early trends are expected to be clear by 11:00 AM, with final winners likely to be announced by late afternoon.
Karnataka- Bagalkot, Davanagere South Constituency
In Karnataka, the ruling Congress bagged both the Bagalkot and the Davanagere South constituencies. Congress candidate Umesh Meti on Monday won the Bagalkot assembly seat, for which the bypolls were held on April 9, by a margin of 22,332 votes, the Election Commission said. Meti polled 98919 votes winning against BJP candidate Charantimath Veerabhadrayya, who polled 76587 votes.
In Davanagere South, Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun defeated BJP candidate Shrinivasa T. Dasakariyappa by 5708 votes. The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).
In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti defeated BJP's Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
Gujarat - Umreth Constituency
BJP candidate Harshadbhai Parmar secured a victory over Congress rival Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan in the Umreth assembly bypoll in Gujarat's Anand district on Monday. The counting of votes was held at BJVM College in Vallabh Vidyanagar amid tight security.
Parmar retained his lead over his nearest rival from Congress in all the rounds of counting, having secured a lead of over 30743 votes. He received 85500 votes after the completion of all 23 rounds, compared to 54,757 votes polled for Chauhan, as per the Election Commission's website.
The four other candidates -- three Independents and a candidate from a lesser-known party -- trailed far behind them. The bypoll, necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Govind Parmar, took place on April 23, with 59.04 per cent of voters exercising their franchise at 306 polling stations.
Nearly 700 officials and employees, including 14 counting supervisors, 14 assistants and 14 micro supervisors, have been appointed for the counting of votes, an official said. In the 2022 assembly elections, Govind Parmar had retained the Umreth seat for the BJP.
Tripura- Dharmangar Constituency
The BJP's Jahar Chakraborti won the Dharmanagar Assembly bypoll in Tripura by a margin of 18,920 votes over his nearest CPI(M) candidate. Chakraborti secured 24,291 votes while his nearest rival, CPI(M)'s Amitabha Datta, polled 6,001 votes. The Congress's Chayan Bahttacharya got 5,936 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Tripura Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen in December 2025. The voter turnout in the bypoll was 79.84 per cent. With the victory, the BJP's tally in the 60-member Assembly stands at 33, while its allies -- the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) has 13 MLAs, and the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura has one lawmaker.
Chief Minister Manik Saha expressed heartfelt gratitude to the people of Dharmanagar for favouring the BJP with an overwhelming mandate. "I sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Dharmanagar for electing Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Jahar Chakraborty, with an overwhelming majority in the Dharmanagar by-election," he wrote on Facebook.
Saha added, "Your immense support and trust have made us even more responsible. We are committed to working tirelessly towards the overall development, peace, and progress of Dharmanagar. Let us move forward together and take this journey of development even further with everyone’s support."
Nagaland- Koridang Constituency
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.
Another Independent candidate, Imtiwapang, finished third with 3,633 votes, while NPP nominee I Abenjang polled 3,219 votes. Congress candidate T Chalukumba Ao secured just 144 votes, while NOTA polled 48 votes. With this victory, Imchen enters the 14th Nagaland assembly as the youngest legislator at 35.
He maintained a consistent lead across several polling stations, particularly in the Mangmetong and Longkhum areas, securing a decisive victory. The by-election was necessitated following the demise of his father, Imkong L Imchen, a five-time former MLA. Imchen's victory is being seen as a continuation of his family's political hold over Koridang.
Maharashtra- Rahuri and Baramati Constituency
The Baramati Assembly bye-election reached a definitive conclusion on Monday, with Sunetra Ajit Pawar, the candidate for the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, securing a landslide victory. In a historic performance, Sunetra Pawar shattered all previous records, including the 2019 victory margin set by her husband, the late Ajit Pawar.
Sunetra Pawar emerged victorious with a record-breaking margin of 218,930 votes. This victory is now being hailed as the highest winning margin for any legislative candidate in the history of India. With this result, Sunetra Pawar has officially overtaken the previous national record held by Sunil Kumar Sharma from Sahibabad (Uttar Pradesh), who won by a margin of 2,14,835 votes in 2022.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Sunetra Pawar said, it is a tribute to Ajit Pawar, and she dedicated her monumental win to the memory of her late husband. She urged supporters to maintain decorum and avoid loud celebrations or the throwing of gulal.
Bharatiya Janata Party also retained the Rahuri assembly seat in Maharashtra after its candidate, Akshay Kardile, defeated Govind Mokate of the NCP (SP) by a margin of more than 1.12 lakh votes. The bypoll to the constituency in Ahilyanagar district was necessitated due to the death of Kardile's father and sitting MLA Shivajirao Kardile. As per data from the Election Commission of India, Kardile secured 1,40,093 votes, while Mokate got 27,506 votes.
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