Following the conclusion of counting across six vacant constituencies in four states, the electoral outcome in West Bengal's Rejinagar assembly seat delivered a dramatic shift in local political equations. With results declared for five assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, Rejinagar stood out as a high-stakes multi-cornered battle featuring the BJP, Congress, CPI(M), two separate factions of the TMC, and the AJUP. Once the electronic voting machines were unsealed and counted, BJP nominee Shankharavh Sarkar defeated AJUP contender Golam Nabi Azad (Robin), the son of Humayun Kabir, by a massive margin of 75,816 votes.
Breakdown of Votes Secured by Top Candidates
Election figures confirmed that BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar garnered 1,29,914 votes to seal his victory. AJUP runner-up Golam Nabi Azad managed to secure 54,098 votes, trailing far behind the frontrunner. The remaining contenders were pushed into distant positions. Congress nominee Abdullahil Kafi finished third with 6,168 votes, while the candidate representing the Mamata faction of the TMC, Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, slipped to fourth place after securing just 3,847 votes.
Performance of Left and Rival Trinamool Faction
The by-poll also saw candidates fielded by the Left Front and a breakaway Trinamool faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. CPI(M) candidate Mohammad Sayeed obtained 3,797 votes during the tallying process. Safiuzzaman Saikh, standing for the Democratic Trinamool Congress backed by Ritabrata Banerjee, collected 2,044 votes. The breakaway Democratic Trinamool Congress thereby ended up securing even fewer votes than Mamata Banerjee's party.
Demographic Realities and Political Context of Rejinagar
The Rejinagar seat holds notable political significance due to its demographic composition, with Muslim voters making up an estimated 65 to 75 percent of the electorate, while Hindu voters comprise around 30 to 35 percent. In the 2026 general assembly elections, Humayun Kabir won both the Rejinagar and Naoda constituencies. Upon deciding to retain the Naoda seat, Kabir resigned from Rejinagar, triggering this by-election. Kabir then fielded his son, Golam Nabi Azad, under the AJUP banner. Despite the formidable demographic odds and established local influence, the BJP pulled off a landslide victory exceeding 1.29 lakh votes. Alongside this victory, the BJP candidate also triumphed in the Nandigram by-election in Bengal, defeating the Congress nominee by 1,22,753 votes.
