The juggernaut of the BJP-led NDA, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's TMC registered a six-on-six clean sweep. In its process of continuing to deny the BJP its coveted foothold in the state's political theatre, the TMC retained five of the six seats it had previously won during the 2021 polls, while wresting the key Madarihat seat from the saffron camp in north Bengal's Alipurduar district, and opening its account in the segment for the first time. The scene was much brighter for the ruling NDA in neighbouring Bihar where it swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari, Ramgarh and Belaganj, in a shot in the arm ahead of the assembly polls due next year. In Assam, the BJP and its allies retained four assembly seats and were leading in one, where the bypolls were held on November 13. The sol