New Delhi:
In Narendra Modi's Gujarat, his BJP has won two Lok Sabha seats to which by-elections were held and is ahead in four Assembly seats. All six seats were held by the Congress and a BJP sweep will be talking point for Mr Modi, who won his fourth straight term as chief minister in December last year and is now being pitched for national role by many in his party.
"There were by polls for four Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats. Congress had won all of them but today people of Gujarat have given Congress a fitting reply. Congress is in bad shape. I thank all voters for this win," Mr Modi said in Delhi where he is attending a chief ministers' conference on internal security.
Out of the two Lok Sabha seats, Porbandar has been retained by Vitthal Radadiya, who became famous last year for having brandished a gun at a toll booth attendant. Mr Radadiya was then a Congress MP. He and his son Jayesh walked over to the BJP earlier this year. Jayesh is leading in the Jetpur Assembly seat.
In Banaskantha, Haribhai Choudhary of the BJP has won.
The by-polls in five states for which votes are being counted today, are being seen as a bellwether with general elections now only months away.
After the by-poll results were announced, Mr Modi met party president Rajnath Singh at his residence. After the hour-long meeting, Mr Singh talked to reporters and said he wanted to congratulate Mr Modi for the by-poll win. "It is clear that the people of this country are agitated against the Congress. It is a huge achievement for us," he said.
In Bihar, who wins the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat is a matter of prestige. Prabhu Nath Singh, who had lost the 2009 election on this seat as a JD(U) candidate, has returned to contest as a Lalu Yadav man for the RJD. In early rounds of counting, he is ahead of state education minister P K Shahi of the Janata Dal (United).
Lalu Yadav, who is attempting a political comeback, campaigned extensively across Maharajganj, calling this the semi-final ahead of the state elections due in Gujarat. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has dismissed Mr Yadav's challenge so far and will want to win this battle.
In West Bengal, it's a happy day for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Her party, the Trinamool Congress, has won the Howrah Lok Sabha seat where by-election was held on June 2.
"We are indebted to voters who came out to vote in this by-poll. It is a win for democracy. We fought alone against all parties. It is a message:
ekla cholo re," Ms Banerjee said.
The Trinamool is also leading in six out of seven Assembly seats.
These are the first major elections in the state after the chit fund scam broke and it's a three-way fight for prestige between the Trinamool Congress, the CPM and the Congress. The Trinamool won the seat in 2009, but at that time the Trinamool and Congress were allies and the Congress had not fielded a candidate. Ms Banerjee is in Kolkata having skipped a chief ministers' meet on internal security in Delhi.
Counting is also underway for an Assembly seat each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.