BJP’s Devasish Sharma wins Nagaon seat in Assam, defeats AIUDF as Congress finishes third

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Devasish Sharma has won the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election in Assam by a margin of 1,72,527 votes, defeating All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal, while Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora finished third.

Sharma secured 6,77,258 votes, while Ajmal polled 5,04,731 votes. Bora received 1,20,123 votes, according to reported election results.

The result marks a significant setback for Ajmal, a former Lok Sabha MP who contested the bypoll in an effort to return to Parliament. The contest was closely watched as a three-way battle between the BJP, AIUDF and Congress in Assam.

Sharma, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, contested the election on a BJP ticket. His victory comes in a constituency where the Congress had won the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections through Pradyut Bordoloi.

The by-election was necessitated after Bordoloi resigned as a Congress MP, joined the BJP and subsequently won the Assam Assembly election from Dispur on a BJP ticket.

The BJP’s victory and Congress’s third-place finish mark a shift in the electoral contest in Nagaon. The result also deals a blow to the AIUDF, which sought to strengthen its position through Ajmal’s candidature.

Polling for the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election was held on October 6, with a voter turnout of 76.19%. Counting began on Friday, October 9, amid tight security at two counting centres in Nagaon.