BJP’s Hasirani Rath secured 1,64,427 of the 2,15,872 votes cast — 76% of the total polled
After Mamata Banerjee backed Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, he was arrested in connection with a 19-year-old case linked to the 2007 land movement. He secured interim bail to campaign for a few days after the state challenged his release up to Supreme Court, where relief was upheld less than 24 hours before polling. Congress polled 41,674 votes, while CPI candidate Santi Gopal Giri finished with 5,779 votes. Earlier reporting noted: BJP wins Nandigram & Rejinagar bypolls; mother of Suvendu Adhikari’s slain aide scripts historic win BJP candidate Hasirani Rath secured a historic victory in the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, winning by a record margin of 122,753 votes and surpassing Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s 2016 record. Securing 1,64,427 votes, Rath won by a record margin of 1,22,753 votes, surpassing Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s 2016 record margin of 81,230 votes. Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, backed by Mamata Banerjee’s faction, finished a distant second with 41,674 votes in the declared final count. CPI candidate Santi Gopal Giri finished third with 5,779 votes. All India Secular Front candidate Ali Md Sabe Miraj Khan secured 1,607 votes. Ehteshmul Haque of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress received 853 votes and finished fifth Earlier reporting noted: Rath’s margin of 1,22,753 votes is the biggest in Nandigram since 1967. The earlier record was held by Suvendu Adhikari, who won the seat for the Trinamool Congress in 2016 by 81,230 votes.
Campaigning in minority areas like Birulia, he said while his party chants “Jai Shri Ram”, voters were not required to join in and could say “Bharat Mata ki Jai” instead, framing the bypolls as an “opportunity to build a lasting friendship with BJP”. Pradhan alleged police blindfolded him and took him to a hotel in Mandarmani to pressure his withdrawal. Key TMC netas Sk Sufian, Abu Taher and Pabitra Kar did not campaign. Without an official TMC candidate on the ballot, traditional TMC votes split among rivals.
Earlier reporting noted: Mamata Banerjee’s party backed Congress in Nandigram Mamata Banerjee’s party backed Congress in Nandigram
“There cannot be any doubt that along with minority votes, we got the king’s share of the opposition vote too,” said Meghnad Pal, a BJP functionary in Nandigram.
This opposition breakdown allowed BJP’s organisational network to absorb swing votes across the constituency, turning a historically tight contest into a landslide victory.