Archive · 6 Oct 2026
Bypoll Voting Begins Across Five Assembly Seats and Nagaon
People are voting in by-elections for five state or territory Assembly seats and one national Parliament seat.
The Assembly seats are in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The Parliament seat is in Nagaon, Assam.
These seats became vacant for different reasons, including resignations and a politician changing parties after winning another election.
Several parties have put forward candidates.
In the Tamil Nadu contests, parties that support the TVK government are also running against TVK candidates.
Counting is planned for October 9.
The Election Commission says the full election process should be completed before October 11.
Voting began Tuesday in five Assembly by-elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The Assam Lok Sabha by-election is being held in Nagaon, with the BJP, Congress and AIUDF contesting.
West Bengal's seats are Nandigram and Rejinagar; Tamil Nadu's are Madurantakam and Dharapuram; Puducherry's is Thattanchavady.
The Tamil Nadu races include candidates from TVK, DMK, AIADMK, CPM or CPI, and NTK.
Vote counting is scheduled for October 9, and the Election Commission says the election process will finish before October 11.
- Who
- Voters in five Assembly constituencies and Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency; candidates from multiple political parties are contesting.
- What
- By-elections are being held for five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat.
- When
- Voting began Tuesday; counting is scheduled for October 9, with the election process due to finish before October 11.
- Where
- Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal; Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu; Thattanchavady in Puducherry; and Nagaon in Assam.
- Why
- The seats became vacant after resignations, a candidate choosing to retain another Assembly seat, and Pradyut Bordoloi leaving Congress and later winning the Dispur Assembly seat.
Candidates and parties
Opposing candidates and parties
Madurantakam Assembly by-election
Candidates and parties
TVK's Maragatham Kumaravel, DMK's Paranthaman and CPM's Suganthi are among the candidates.
Opposing candidates and parties
AIADMK's Kanitha Sampath and NTK's Janakiraman are also contesting; 28 candidates are in the field overall.
Dharapuram Assembly by-election
Candidates and parties
TVK's P. Sathyabama, DMK's Suganya and CPI's Lakshmanan are contesting.
Opposing candidates and parties
AIADMK's Banumathi and NTK's Karthika are also in the race.
Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election
Candidates and parties
The BJP has fielded former Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Debashish Sharma.
Opposing candidates and parties
Congress has nominated former Batadroba MLA Sibamoni Bora, while AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal is also contesting.
- Seats being contested
- Five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat
- West Bengal
- Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies
- Tamil Nadu
- Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies
- Puducherry
- Thattanchavady Assembly constituency
- Assam
- Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency; a three-way contest among BJP, Congress and AIUDF
- Counting
- Scheduled for October 9
- Election process deadline
- Scheduled to be completed before October 11