Voters in parts of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam will head to the polls again on October 6, with the Election Commission announcing bypolls for five Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat. Counting of votes will be held on October 9.

The bypolls have been necessitated by a mix of resignations, leaders choosing to retain one of two seats they won, and political realignments following recent elections.

Where are the bypolls being held?

The Election Commission has announced Assembly bypolls in:

  1. Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal
  2. Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) in Tamil Nadu
  3. Thattanchavady in Puducherry
  4. A bypoll will also be held for Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency.

The Model Code of Conduct has come into immediate effect in the districts concerned.

Nandigram heads for bypoll after Adhikari retains Bhabanipur

Nandigram, one of West Bengal's most closely watched political constituencies, will see a bypoll after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the seat.

Adhikari had contested and won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the April Assembly elections. After defeating former chief minister Mamata Banerjee in her Bhabanipur stronghold by 15,105 votes, he chose to retain the Kolkata seat.

He had also defeated Banerjee in Nandigram during the 2021 Assembly elections.

Another West Bengal constituency, Rejinagar, fell vacant after Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir chose to retain Naoda. Kabir, a former Trinamool Congress leader who floated the AJUP following his expulsion from the party, had won both Rejinagar and Naoda in the 2026 Assembly elections.

Tamil Nadu seats vacated after MLAs join ruling TVK

Tamil Nadu's Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly seats will also go to the polls.

The constituencies were won in the recent elections by AIADMK's Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama. Both were among rebel AIADMK legislators who backed Chief Minister Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government during a floor test.

The two later resigned as MLAs and joined the ruling TVK, triggering the need for bypolls.

Puducherry Chief Minister's former seat also up for grabs

In Puducherry, polling will be held in Thattanchavady after Chief Minister and All India N R Congress chief N Rangasamy opted to retain Mangalam.

Rangasamy had won both Thattanchavady and Mangalam in the Assembly elections but subsequently resigned from Thattanchavady.

Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam to vote on October 6

Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency will also vote in the bypoll.

The seat was vacated by Pradyut Bordoloi, who had won the constituency on a Congress ticket in 2024. He later joined the BJP and won from Dispur in the recent Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, two other Lok Sabha seats - Shillong in Meghalaya and Basirhat in West Bengal, remain vacant, though the Election Commission has not yet announced polling dates for them.

Shillong fell vacant following the death of Voice of the People Party MP Ricky Andrew J Syngkon in February this year. Basirhat has remained vacant since the death of Trinamool Congress MP Haji Sheikh Nurul Islam in September 2024.

With polling now scheduled across four states, the October 6 bypolls will put several recently vacated constituencies back in the spotlight, particularly in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu where political shifts have directly led to the fresh contests.

With PTI inputs