India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Voting began at 7 am on Tuesday in six constituencies across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry, with voters deciding the next representatives in seats left vacant after the April elections.
Polling is being held in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal, Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu, Nagaon in Assam and Thattanchavady in Puducherry.
Bypoll election voting is underway for six seats across various constituencies in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The seats fell vacant after several sitting legislators contested from more than one constituency in the April 2026 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and later retained one of the seats they won.
The bypolls are being watched closely, particularly in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where the results could offer an early indication of how voters are responding to the new political equations that emerged after the April elections.
West Bengal: Nandigram, Rejinagar in focus
The two West Bengal seats are among the most closely watched constituencies in Tuesday’s polling.
The Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls are the first electoral test for the BJP since it ended the TMC’s 15-year rule and formed the government in the state in May.
Nandigram was vacated by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who retained Bhabanipur after defeating TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath, the mother of Adhikari’s slain aide Chandranath Rath, from Nandigram. Adhikari campaigned for her in the constituency on Sunday, including a foot march.
During the campaign, Adhikari again attacked Mamata Banerjee over the leg injury she suffered during the 2021 Assembly election campaign. He accused the previous TMC government of misusing the CID to target BJP leaders in an attempt-to-murder case linked to the incident.
Rejinagar was vacated after Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir won both Rejinagar and Nawda and decided to retain Nawda.
His son, Golam Nabi Azad, is contesting the Rejinagar bypoll for AJUP.
The contest has several players in the fray. TMC’s Mamata faction has fielded Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, while the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has nominated Safiuzzaman Sheikh. Congress has fielded Mohd Abdullahil Kafi.
The results in the two constituencies will be watched not just for the BJP’s performance but also for the battle among Opposition parties to emerge as the main challenger to the ruling party.
Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said the biggest question was which party would be able to occupy the Opposition space against the BJP.
Nandigram, meanwhile, has an added political significance. The constituency has been at the centre of Bengal politics for years and played an important role in the political changes that eventually brought the TMC to power.
Tamil Nadu: TVK, DMK and AIADMK face off
In Tamil Nadu, the focus is on Madurantakam and Dharapuram, where the newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is facing its first major electoral test in the Assembly.
The two seats were vacated by former AIADMK MLAs K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama after they joined actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay’s TVK.
Vijay’s party has fielded both former MLAs again, with Kumaravel contesting from Madurantakam and Sathyabama from Dharapuram.
The DMK has fielded I Paranthamen in Madurantakam and Suganya in Dharapuram. The AIADMK is also in the contest, making the bypolls a closely fought battle involving several political parties.
Vijay personally campaigned in Dharapuram, holding a 40-km roadshow in support of Sathyabama.
During the campaign, he took aim at the DMK over comments directed at women and said he would not stay silent when such remarks crossed the line.
For TVK, the bypoll results will show whether the party can turn the attention it has received since its formation into electoral support.
Vijay has also been trying to build a political identity for TVK around the welfare politics associated with former AIADMK leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. That puts the party in direct competition with the AIADMK for a section of the political space that the party has traditionally occupied.
The results will also matter for the DMK, which is looking to recover after its defeat in the April Assembly elections.
Assam: BJP faces test in Nagaon
In Assam, the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency is going to the polls.
The seat became vacant after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the party, joined the BJP and later won the Dispur Assembly seat in the April elections.
The BJP has fielded former bureaucrat Devasish Sharma. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned for him during the election campaign.
Nagaon presents a challenge for the BJP as Muslims form a majority of the electorate in the constituency. Despite this, Sarma has expressed confidence in the party’s prospects and predicted a victory margin of between 2.5 lakh and 3 lakh votes.
Puducherry: 11 candidates in fray
In Puducherry, voting is taking place in Thattanchavady.
The seat fell vacant after Chief Minister N Rangasamy retained Mangalam, having won both constituencies in the April elections.
The Thattanchavady bypoll has 11 candidates in the fray, making it a multi-cornered contest. Candidates backed by the ruling AINRC-led alliance and the Opposition are among those seeking victory.
Results on October 9
Voting is being held across all six constituencies on Tuesday, October 6. Counting will take place on October 9.
The bypolls are not expected to decide the political fortunes of the parties on their own. However, they will provide an early picture of how voters are responding to the new governments and political alliances that took shape after the April elections.
