Bypoll results today: Counting for 5 assembly seats, 1 Assam LS constituency

• Counting for five assembly seats and Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha seat begins at 8 am on Friday

• Tamil Nadu’s Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls will test chief minister Vijay’s TVK government

• West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar, Puducherry’s Thattanchavady and Assam’s Nagaon await results

Counting of votes for by-elections to five assembly constituencies across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, along with the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam, will take place on Friday. The results are expected to offer an indication of the political standing of the parties involved and shape the narrative around the recent electoral contests.

In Tamil Nadu, votes will be counted for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram assembly constituencies. The outcome will be closely watched as an electoral test for chief minister C. Joseph Vijay and his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which formed the government after securing 108 seats in the assembly election, falling short of the 118 seats required for a simple majority.

Both constituencies, reserved for Scheduled Castes, went to the polls on October 6 following an intense campaign involving leaders from the ruling party and the Opposition. Counting will begin at 8 am, with postal ballots taken up first, followed by votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs).

In West Bengal, counting will be held for the Nandigram assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district. Polling in both seats took place amid heightened security arrangements, reflecting the political sensitivity surrounding the contests.

The Nandigram bypoll has attracted particular attention following the last-minute withdrawal of Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate. Her withdrawal has fuelled speculation among political observers about the prospects of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Hasi Rani Rath.

Dey is the mother of late Chandranath Rath, a personal assistant to chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, who was assassinated in Madhyamgram on 6 May. The development has added another dimension to an already closely watched political contest.

Adhikari had earlier claimed that the BJP candidate's victory margin in the Nandigram bypoll could exceed the margin he secured from the constituency in 2016. The counting outcome will determine whether the BJP can translate its campaign into a decisive electoral advantage.

In Puducherry, votes will be counted for the Thattanchavady assembly constituency, while Assam will see counting for the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency. The results from these seats will establish the electoral fortunes of the candidates and provide the respective parties with an opportunity to assess their support among voters.

With counting scheduled to begin at 8 am, attention will remain focused on the early trends and final results from all six constituencies. The outcomes are expected to have political significance for the parties concerned, although their broader implications will depend on the margins of victory and the overall electoral performance.

With IANS inputs