Bypolls for 5 Assembly Seats, 1 Lok Sabha Seat Today

October 6, 2026

New Delhi: Bypolls to five Assembly constituencies in three states and the Union Territory of Puducherry, along with one Lok Sabha constituency in Assam, will be held on Tuesday. The results will be declared on October 9.

Polling will take place in four Assembly constituencies — Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal, and Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu — besides Thattanchavady in Puducherry and the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam.

Assam’s Nagaon Parliamentary constituency fell vacant following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi, according to a statement issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In West Bengal, the Nandigram Assembly seat fell vacant following the resignation of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, while the Rejinagar seat became vacant after the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir.

Earlier on Sunday, Chief Minister Adhikari took out a foot march in Nandigram in support of BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, a former aide of Adhikari who was killed shortly after the Assembly election victory.

Bypolls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

In Tamil Nadu, by-elections will be held in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies.

Bypolls will also be held in Puducherry’s Thattanchavady constituency.

According to the schedule issued by the ECI, the gazette notification for the by-elections was issued on September 9.

The ECI had earlier said that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems would be used at all polling stations for the by-elections.

Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available, and all necessary steps have been taken to ensure that polling is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines, the Commission said.

ECI Guidelines for Candidates and Parties

According to the Commission, the process of updating electoral rolls in the four states continued until the last date of filing nominations.

The ECI had also said that candidates with criminal antecedents were required to publish information about their criminal background in newspapers and through television channels on three occasions during the poll campaign period.

Political parties fielding candidates with criminal antecedents were also required to publish information about their candidates’ criminal backgrounds on their websites as well as in newspapers and through television channels on three occasions, the ECI said in a statement.