Congress candidate Bayron Biswas was leading in the Sagardighi assembly seat in West Bengal's Murshidabad district where counting of votes was underway for a by-election, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Biswas, who enjoys the support of the Left, was leading by 2,814 votes over TMC candidate Debashish Banerjee.

Biswas bagged 22,234 votes, and Banerjee got 19,420 votes, while Dilip Saha of the BJP secured 6,305 votes.

If Biswas manages to win the by-election, also being seen as a prestige fight for state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury in his home district, it will be the party's first seat in this assembly, which has a strength of 294.

"I am confident about my victory. The people here are fed up with the corruption and misrule of the TMC," Biswas said.

Banerjee, however, said it's too early to conclude as there are still several rounds of counting left.

The by-poll was necessitated due to the death of state minister Subrata Saha in December last year. The TMC has been winning the seat since 2011 and secured a margin of more than 50,000 votes in the 2021 assembly elections.

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