Election Commission of India logo. File
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
The Election Commission on Monday (September 7, 2026) announced that bypolls to five Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and one Lok Sabha seat in Assam would be held on October 6.
The nomination process will remain open until September 16, and counting will be held on October 9. The election process would be completed by October 11.
The by-elections were necessitated following the resignations of elected legislators across the three States and the Union Territory for various reasons. In Tamil Nadu, vacancies arose in Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) following the resignations of Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama, respectively.
Ms. Kumaravel and Ms. Sathyabama both had been elected on AIADMK tickets in the 2026 Assembly polls and resigned after joining Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Five other Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu are vacant following resignations, including Tiruchirappalli East, which was won by the Chief Minister. He had won two seats and retained Perambur as his constituency. The other vacant seats—Ambasamudram, Karur, Veeralimalai and Perumdurai—have election petitions pending, preventing the EC from announcing bypolls there.
In Puducherry, the Thattanchavady constituency opened up after the resignation of N. Rangasamy. He had won from both Thattanchavady and Mangalam seats and decided to give up the former.
In West Bengal, Rejinagar and the high-profile Nandigram are up for election following the resignations of Humayun Kabir and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, respectively. Mr. Adhikari decided to retain the Bhabanipur seat where he had defeated incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mr. Adhikari, who led the BJP to form its maiden government in West Bengal, had defeated Ms. Banerjee in her Bhabanipur stronghold by 15,105 votes. He had also defeated her in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Mr. Kabir, a former Trinamool Congress leader who floated the AJUP after his expulsion from the party, won from both Nowda and Rejinagar and decided to retain the former. He has offered the Rejinagar seat to Ms. Banerjee to contest.
It remains to be seen whether Ms. Banerjee will choose either Nandigram or Rejinagar to make a return to the Assembly.
In Assam, the bypoll will be held in the Nagaon Parliamentary Constituency following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi. He had won the constituency on a Congress ticket in 2024 and subsequently joined the BJP and won from Dispur in the recent Assembly polls.
Two other Lok Sabha seats—Shillong in Meghalaya and Basirhat in West Bengal—remain vacant, and polls have not been scheduled there yet.
Shillong fell vacant following the death of Voice of the People Party (VPP) MP Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon in February this year, while Basirhat has remained vacant since the death of Trinamool Congress MP Haji Sheikh Nurul Islam in September 2024.
The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect immediately in the respective districts encompassing the poll-bound constituencies, the ECI said in a statement.
While Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) remain the primary identification document, voters may present alternative approved documents, including passport, driving licence, PAN card, or official photo ID issued by government entities.
Published – September 07, 2026 06:39 pm IST
