Opposition parties have an edge in other states too, leading in one seat where they are pitted against the BJP or its allies and winning five. The BJP retained Maharashtra's Palghar Lok Sabha seat - where it was in contest with estranged ally Shiv Sena - but is trailing in Bhandara-Gondia, which it snatched from the NCP in 2014.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the opposition's win in Kairana and Noorpur was a win for the farmers, the neglected, the poor and the Dalits. He also thanked all opposition parties for coming together and ensuring the win in the bypolls. "Farmers were told their loans would be waived, but they lost lives instead. Voters made it a point to bear whatever the circumstances to come out just to teach a lesson to the BJP. I also thank all other political leaders who came together and stood together to ensure that we win," he said.
The by-election in Kairana -- a seat BJP won in 2014 -- was seen as testing ground for a broader opposition unity ahead of the 2019 elections. Tabassum Begum, a candidate of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal, had the backing of the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Dalit power house Mayawati.
In Bihar, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal wrested the Jokihat assembly seat from the ruling Janata Dal United. As his candidate beat Nitish Kumar's candidate by over 41,000 votes, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the coming together of Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and the Congress has "helped" his party in Bihar.
The Congress has won in Meghalaya's Ampati -- a victory that has made it the state's single largest party and is expected to lend force to its claim of getting a shot at government formation.
The BJP retained Uttarakhand's Tharali, pushing up its numbers in the 70-member state assembly to 57.
In Kerala, where the CPM and the Congress are at loggerheads, the Left party retained the Chengannur seat, wrested two years ago.
The Congress wrested Punjab's Shahkot from BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal, while. regional party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha retained Silli and Gomia.
The Congress also retained Karnataka's Rajarajeshwarinagar, where assembly elections were put on hold earlier this year after the discovery of hundreds of voter ID cards from a flat in Bengaluru. The party was in race against ally Janata Dal Secular.
The Trinamool Congress is ahead in Bengal's Maheshtala, a seat it held. But the by-poll result will be significant in terms voteshare, as the BJP expects to shore up its vote count in a state where it is keen on getting a toehold ahead of 2019 general elections.
The bypoll in Jokihaat was seen as a prestige battle for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after the sitting JD(U) lawmaker quit and joined the RJD when Mr Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance and partnered with the BJP last year.
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