UDF’s Aryadan Shoukath defeats LDF’s M Swaraj by 11,077 votes in Nilambur By-Election

NEW DELHI: In a significant blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala, UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath of Congress defeated LDF’s M Swaraj of CPI(M) by a large margin of 11,077 votes in the Nilambur assembly by-election. As per the Election Commission website, Shoukath had secured 77737 votes, a lead of 11077 votes from M Swaraj of the CPM after 19 rounds of counting.

The bypoll for the Nilambur seat was necessitated after the resignation of Left Democratic Front independent legislator PV Anvar, who later joined the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) after his acrimonious break-up with the ruling alliance.

આમ આદમી પાર્ટીની કામની રાજનીતિ પસંદ કરવા બદલ વિસાવદર, ભેંસાણ અને જૂનાગઢ ગ્રામ્યની જનતાનો ખુબ ખુબ આભાર pic.twitter.com/jI3T8ArxTr

— AAP Gujarat (@AAPGujarat) June 23, 2025

In its official statement, the Kerala Congress said, “Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has won the Nilambur assembly constituency, a sitting seat of the ruling CPM combine, by a huge margin of over 11,000 votes. Big congrats to Aryadan Shoukath and the entire Congress-UDF team that worked relentlessly for this shining victory. Successive bypoll wins and a clean sweep in the parliament elections by the Congress and UDF have proved beyond doubt that the anti-incumbency sentiment against the Pinarayi Vijayan government is gaining momentum by the day. Now the anger of the people has reached its peak. The government cannot escape the heat or continue to live in denial, hiding behind the multi-crore PR machinery.”

In Gujarat’s Visavadar Assembly by-election, AAP’s Gopal Italia leads with 17,554 votes over BJP’s Kirit Patel after 21 rounds. The Visavadar seat fell vacant after Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai resigned.

In a post on X, AAP Gujarat expressed their gratitude, stating, “Many thanks to the people of Visavadar, Bhensan and Junagadh villages for choosing the politics of work of Aam Aadmi Party”
https://x.com/AAPGujarat/status/1937049334799118538

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj called it a “massive victory” and a “terrific bounce back,” emphasising that despite setbacks, AAP’s influence remains strong in key regions.

Speaking to ANI, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “This is a massive victory for AAP. Political analysts were saying that AAP would finish as a party. But after the loss in Delhi, AAP is winning Ludhiana West (Assembly by-elections) and we are also winning a by-election in AAP’s stronghold of Gujarat by a huge margin. I think this is a major victory. A few people used to say that Arvind Kejriwal would be sidelined in national politics; this is a terrific bounce back.”

In the Ludhiana West (Punjab) Assembly by-election, AAP’s Sanjeev Arora continues to lead Congress’s Bharat Bhushan Ashu by 7504 votes after 11 rounds of counting. BJP’s Jiwan Gupta is trailing in third position.

The bypoll was necessitated after AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi died of a self-inflicted bullet injury in January this year.

In the Kaliganj by-election in West Bengal, TMC’s Alifa Ahmed continues to lead BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by 26,494 votes after the 10th round of counting. Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh is currently in third place. The by-poll was held following the death of TMC leader Nasiruddin Ahmed.

In Gujarat’s Kadi Assembly by-election, BJP’s Rajendra Chavda continues his lead over Congress’s Ramesh Chavda; currently leading by a margin of 37,693 votes after 18 rounds of counting. AAP’s Jagdish Chavda is trailing in a distant third position.

The Kadi bye-election was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki in February this year. (ANI)