New Delhi: The results of bypolls for four assembly seats conducted on September 23 were announced on Friday, with the ruling parties prevailing in all the seats. Results for the Pala (Kerala), Badharghat (Tripura), Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Dantewada (Chhattisgarh) seats were all released by late evening.Pala bypollIn Kerala, the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) won the by-election to Pala assembly constituency, wresting the seat from the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).LDF candidate Mani C. Kappen defeated Jose Tom Pulikkunnel of the UDF in a closely contested fight. Kappen, leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, defeated Pulikkunnel, a faction leader of the Kerala Congress (M) by 2,943 votes.Also read: Pala Bypoll: LDF Trounces Congress in UDF StrongholdPala was a bastion of the Congress-led UDF, held by veteran leader and former finance minister K.M. Mani for the last five decades. The by-poll was necessitated due to Mani’s demise in April. The win has come as a huge relief to the LDF after its rout in the Lok Sabha polls.The by-poll was viewed as an acid test for the UDF and the BJP-headed NDA, as a victory would have given a boost to the prospects of the three major combines in the by-elections to five more assembly constituencies, scheduled for October 21.While Kappen’s victory is a big morale booster for chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, the results will put the UDF on the back foot for the October 21 by-polls.The victory will also give Vijayan the confidence to carry forward his party’s social and economic agenda in the state.Badharghat bypollIn Tripura’s Badharghat (SC) constituency, the ruling BJP’s Mimi Majumder won the by-election defeating her nearest rival, CPI(M)’s Bulti Biswas, by 5,276 votes. Congress nominee Ratan Chandra Das secured the third place.The seat fell vacant due to the death of BJP MLA Dilip Sarkar in April. The BJP candidate bagged 20,487 votes while the CPI(M) nominee secured 15,211 votes. The BJP and the CPI(M)’s vote share fell when compared to the assembly election. Congress’s Ratan Das posted a much-improved showing, improving his tally of 505 votes to 9,105.Hamirpur bypollRuling party BJP’s Yuvraj Singh won the Hamirpur bypoll in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of over 17,846 votes, defeating his nearest rival Samajwadi Party candidate Manoj Prajapati. Singh secured 74,374 votes, while Prajapati got 56,528 votes, the Election Commission said.The by-election in this seat was necessitated due to the disqualification of the BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel following his conviction in a murder case.Nine candidates, including the Congress’s Hardeepak Nishad and Naushad Ali of the BSP, were in the poll fray. Nishad got 16,096 votes while Naushad Ali secured 28,790 votes.Dantewada bypollThe ruling Congress has won the Dantewada Assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh with Devti Karma sweeping the seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 11,192 votes.Karma polled 50,028 votes while her nearest rival, the BJP’s Ojaswi Mandavi, secured 38,836 votes, he said. Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Bhimsen Mandavi stood third with 7,664 votes, a poll official said.Voting was held on September 23. The voting percentage was 60.59. The byelection was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi in a Maoist attack in April.(With PTI inputs)