Voting began on Tuesday, October 6, for by-elections to six constituencies across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The contests cover five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, with several major parties competing in closely watched electoral battles.
According to the ANI report, polling is taking place in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar, Tamil Nadu’s Madurantakam and Dharapuram, Puducherry’s Thattanchavady and Assam’s Nagaon parliamentary constituency. Counting will take place on October 9. The Election Commission has scheduled completion of the election process before October 11.
West Bengal votes in Nandigram and Rejinagar
The Nandigram Assembly bypoll follows the vacancy created when Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won from two constituencies in the state elections earlier this year, chose to retain his other seat.
Rejinagar became vacant after Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir resigned from the constituency. Kabir had also won from Nowda. The two contests will determine who represents these constituencies in the West Bengal Assembly following the resignations.
Five-way contests shape Tamil Nadu bypolls
In Tamil Nadu, polling is underway in the reserved Madurantakam constituency in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram constituency in Tiruppur district. The vacancies followed the resignations of Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama.
Both seats feature contests involving TVK, DMK, AIADMK, the Left parties and Naam Tamilar Katchi. Although the CPI and CPM support the TVK government, they are fielding separate candidates against TVK in these by-elections.
In Madurantakam, TVK’s Maragatham Kumaravel faces DMK’s Paranthaman, AIADMK’s Kanitha Sampath, CPM’s Suganthi and NTK’s Janakiraman. A total of 28 candidates are contesting the seat. In Dharapuram, TVK candidate P. Sathyabama is competing against DMK’s Suganya, AIADMK’s Banumathi, CPI’s Lakshmanan and NTK’s Karthika.
BJP, Congress and AIUDF compete in Nagaon
Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll features a three-way contest involving the BJP, Congress and All India United Democratic Front. The parliamentary seat became vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi left the Congress, joined the BJP and subsequently won the Dispur Assembly constituency in the 2026 Assam elections. Congress had won Nagaon in both the 2019 and 2024 general elections.
The BJP has nominated former Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Debashish Sharma, while Congress has fielded former Batadroba MLA Sibamoni Bora. AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal’s entry adds another prominent contender to the race.
Puducherry votes as October 9 counting approaches
Polling is also taking place in Puducherry’s Thattanchavady Assembly constituency, completing the six-seat by-election schedule across the three states and one Union Territory. The results will fill five Assembly vacancies and determine Nagaon’s next representative in the Lok Sabha. Attention will turn to the counting of votes on October 9, when the outcomes of these contests are scheduled to be announced.
