The BJP and the Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly by-elections in 13 states. The by-polls were held in four parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu and 12 assembly seats spread across 10 states. Except for the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat and the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, where polling was held on April 6, bypolls in the rest of the constituencies were conducted on April 17.

In the assembly bypolls, the BJP won or was leading in 5 seats, the Congress four and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) one seat each. The results, however, would have no bearing on the immediate future of the respective governments.

In Tamil Nadu, Vijay Vasanth of the Congress was ahead of senior BJP leader and former union minister Pon Radhakrishnan in the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Vasanth's father and Congress veteran H Vasantha Kumar last year due to COVID-19.

Maddila Gurumoorthy of the YSR Congress Party won the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh by beating Panabaka Lakshmi of the Telugu Desam by a huge margin of 2,71,592 votes. BJP's Angadi Mangal Suresh pocketed the Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency with Satish Laxmanarao Jarkiholi of the Congress coming second. The victory margin was 5,240 votes.

Abdussamad Samadani of the Indian Union Muslim League won the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala defeating V P Sanu of the CPI-M by a margin of 1,14,615 votes. The Congress won two of the three assembly seats in Rajasthan where bypolls were held with BJP emerging victorious in the third. In the Sujangarh seat, Congress candidate Manoj Kumar beat BJP's Khemaram by 35,611 votes while Gayatri Trivedi defeated Ratanlal Jat of the BJP by a margin of 42,200 to emerge winner in Sahara. BJP's Deepti Kiran Maheshwari won the Rajsamand seat, defeating Tansukh Bohara of the Congress by 5,310 votes.

In Karnataka, while the BJP won the Basavakalyan assembly constituency, the Congress was able to retain the Maski seat. In Basavakalyan, BJP's Sharanu Salagar defeated Congress candidate Mala B Narayan Rao by 20,629 votes while in Maski, Congress's Basanagauda Turvihal beat his nearest BJP rival Prathapagouda Patil by a margin of 30,606 votes.

BJP's Nimisha Suthar won the by-election to the Morva Hadaf (ST) assembly constituency in Gujarat by defeating her nearest Congress rival by 45,649 votes. Out of the total 93,179 votes polled, Suthar bagged 67,457 votes, while Congress's Suresh Katara got 21,808 votes. In Madhya Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Tandon was leading from the Damoh seat.

In a setback to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, BJP candidate Autade Samadhan Mahadev was ahead of his nearest NCP rival Bhalke Bhagirath Bharat in the Pandharpur-Mangalvedha assembly seat. BJP's Mahesh Jeena beat his nearest rival Ganga Pancholi of the Congress in the by-election to the Salt assembly constituency in Uttarakhand by 4,697 votes.

The ruling Mizo National Front suffered a humiliating defeat in the Serchhip assembly seat as arch-rival ZPM's nominee Lalduhoma, whose disqualification necessitated the by-election, retained the seat by a margin of 2,950 votes. Lalduhoma, who had defeated the then chief minister Lal Thanhawla of the Congress in the 2018 assembly polls, was disqualified by Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo last November under the anti-defection law, following complaints filed by 12 ruling party legislators.

The ruling TRS retained the Nagarjuna Sagar assembly segment in Telangana with its candidate Nomula Bhagath prevailing over Congress rival Kunduru Jana Reddy by 18,872 votes. The BJP candidate lost the deposit. The JMM, which is in power in Jharkhand, won the Madhupur assembly seat with its candidate Hafizul Hussain defeating Ganga Narayan Singh of the BJP by 5,247 votes.

The by-election in Pipili assembly seat in Odisha was adjourned following the death of Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj due to COVID-19 on April 14. In Nagaland, only one candidate H Chuba Chang of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) had filed nomination for the bypoll to the Noksen assembly constituency and was elected unopposed, the Election Commission had said.

Here are the latest updates:

# Abdussamad Samadani of Indian Union Muslim League wins from Malappuram Lok Sabha seat

# Raj bypolls: Cong wins Sahada and Sujangarh; BJP retains Rajsamand

The Congress won the bypolls in Sahada and Sujangarh on Sunday and the BJP in Rajsamand, with both parties retaining the seats in Rajasthan that fell vacant after the death of their MLAs last year. The by-elections to the seats were held on April 17 and according to official figures, the voter turnout was over 60.37 percent. Congress'' Gayatri Devi defeated BJP nominee Ratanlal Jat by 42,200 votes in Sahada, Election Commission (EC) figures stated.

# TRS candidate Nomula Bhagat continues to lead in bypoll to Nagarjuna Sagar assembly seat in Telangana.

# Congress' Gayatri Devi wins Sahara Assembly constituency in Rajasthan

# JMM leader Hafizul Hassan leading in bypoll to Madhupur assembly seat in Jharkhand: Trends

# Karnataka bypolls: Congress gains lead over BJP in LS seat

In a reversal of trend, opposition Congress overtook ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka's Belgaum Lok Sabha seat where counting is in progress on Sunday for the bye-election held on April 17.

According to the Election Commission website, Satish Jarkiholi of the Congress was ahead with 2,75,375 votes over BJP's Mangala Angadi, who secured 2,63,474 votes in the latest round of counting.

# Rajasthan bypolls: Gehlot congratulates Congress candidates; results awaited

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday congratulated Congress candidates Gayatri Devi and Manoj Meghwal while they led in the counting for the Sahada and Sujangarh assembly seats in the bypolls. Though the official announcement was yet to be made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as counting of votes is underway, Gehlot took to Twitter to congratulate the candidates.

# BJP candidate leads by over 1,000 votes in Uttarakhand's Salt assembly seat

BJP's Mahesh Jeena is leading over his nearest rival Ganga Pancholi of Congress by over 1,000 votes in the by-election to the Salt assembly constituency in Uttarakhand. Jeena took a lead of 1,255 votes over Pancholi by 1.55pm, the Election Commission said. The BJP nominee has garnered 5,366 votes while Pancholi has 4,111 votes so far, it said.

# Raj bypolls: BJP wins Rajsamand assembly seat; Cong leading in two constituencies

BJP''s Deepti Maheshwari has won the bypolls to the Rajsamand assembly seat, while the Congress is leading in the by-elections to the Sahada and Sujangarh constituencies in Rajasthan, according to Election Commission figures.

Over 60.37 per cent voters had exercised their franchise in the April 17 by-elections to the Rajsamand, Sujangarh and Sahada assembly seats.

Maheshwari defeated Tansukh Bohara from the Congress by 5,310 votes, according to the commission.

In the Sahada and the Sujangarh seats, Congress candidates Gayatri Devi and Manoj Kumar are leading by 19,985 and 16,104 votes, it said

# Belgaum: Congress leads BJP by 11,901 votes

# Karnataka bypolls: BJP leads in Belgaum LS seat, 1 assembly seat

uling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintained lead in the Belgaum Lok Sabha seat and Basavakalyan assembly seat, while opposition Congress is leading in Maski assembly seat in Karnataka where counting is in progress for the 3 bypolls held on April 17, a poll official said on Sunday.

# Congress leads against BJP in MP assembly bypoll

The counting of votes for the by-election to the Damoh Assembly constituency of Madhya Pradesh is underway with Congress candidate Ajay Tandon having a clear lead over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Rahul Lodhi. Voting was held on April 17 for the by-election to the Damoh Assembly constituency and counting is underway at Polytechnic College. Congress candidate Ajay Tandon is leading by 1,815 votes.

# ECI writes to Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs to "prohibit victory celebrations urgently"

Election Commission of India writes to Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs to "prohibit victory celebrations urgently". ECI also directs that responsible SHOs and other officers must be suspended immediately and criminal and disciplinary actions must be initiated against them pic.twitter.com/4aEydSH42P

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2021

# No victory gatherings or celebrations of any kind can be held, says Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City

In view of election results, no victory gatherings or celebrations of any kind can be held as COVID protocol & prohibitory order u/s 144 CrPC is in force. Any such attempt by any individual/organization will have serious legal implications: Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City pic.twitter.com/zRgEWUpRTr

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2021

# Kanniyakumari PC: Congress' Vijaykumar alias Vijay Vasanth leads against Radhakrishnan P

# Sujangarh AC: Congress' Manoj Kumar leads RLP's Sitaram Nayak by 1,412 votes

# Congress' Satish Laxmanrao Jarkiholi leading from Belgaum in Karnataka

Official trends for by-election to Parliamentary Constituency | Congress' Satish Laxmanrao Jarkiholi leading from Belgaum in Karnataka. pic.twitter.com/Lj3uRlEQQM

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2021

# Counting is underway for the bypolls to one Lok Sabha seat and two Assembly segments. The voting took place for Belgaum Lok Sabha, and Maski and Basavakalyan Assembly constituencies on April 17.

# Counting of votes being done for by-election to Parliamentary constituencies

Counting of votes also being done for by-election to Parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh (Tirupati), Karnataka (Belgaum), Kerala (Malappuram) and Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari). Votes also being counted for by-election to Vidhan Sabha in 10 states.

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2021

# Counting of votes begins at 8 am

# The officer said all the employees or officers appointed in the counting hall will be wearing masks, face shields and gloves amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

# Political parties in Karnataka are keenly awaiting the outcome of the bypolls to one Lok Sabha seat and two assembly segments, counting for which will get underway on Sunday. The voting took place for Belgaum Lok Sabha and Maski and Basavakalyan assembly constituencies on April 17.

There were 30 candidates in the fray — 10 in Belgaum, 12 in Basavakalyan and eight in Maski. The bypolls to Belgaum and Basavakalyan took place following the demise of the sitting public representatives Suresh Angadi (BJP) and B Narayan Rao (Congress) due to COVID, while Maski seat fell vacant due to the disqualification of Congress MLA Prathapagouda Patil.

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First Published:May 2, 2021 8:24 AM IST