Bypolls were held on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) in five Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry, and one Lok Sabha seat in Assam. The Madurantakam Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu recorded the highest polling percentage of 86%.
The other Assembly seat which went to the polls in Tamil Nadu was Dharapuram, which saw a turnout of just over 80%. Both seats in the State were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Switched loyalties
The byelections to these two seats were necessitated by the resignations of Magaratham Kumaravel from Madurantakam (SC) and P. Sathyabama from Dharapuram (SC), who both won on All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) tickets in the 2026 State election and subsequently switched to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) after resigning their Assembly memberships within three weeks in May 2026.
They are both in the fray, this time as TVK nominees. The two constituencies are witnessing a multi-cornered contest, with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), AIADMK, and Naam Tamilar Katchi candidates also in the fray. Significantly, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI-Marxist, which are extending outside support to the TVK-led government, have jointly put up a candidate in the two seats.
In Puducherry, where the bypoll was held in the Thattanchavady Assembly segment, there was 80.8% voting. The election was caused by the resignation of AINRC chief and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who retained the Mangalam Assembly seat.
W.B. bypoll amid SIR drama
In West Bengal, where bypolls were held in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly seats, there was a voter turnout of almost 80%, despite the fact that many were not able to vote as their inclusion in the electoral roll is under appeal in Appellate Tribunalds. Opposition parties raised allegations of electoral malpractice, with the Congress seeking a repoll in both the constituencies.
Voter polling trends till 5:30 p.m. showed Nandigram at 79.4% and Rejinagar at 78.4%. West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer received 97 official complaints through designated portals on the polling day.
The bypolls were needed as West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won two seats and then vacated Nandigram to retain Bhabanipur, where he had defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) MLA Humayun Kabir, had also won in both Rejinagar and Nowda in Murshidabad, later giving up the Rejinagar seat.
Alleged voter intimidation, booth capturing
Nearly 19,000 members of the electorate from these two seats who could not vote in the last Assembly election were also unable to exercise their franchise in the bypolls. Their names were put under adjudication, and still remain in that state.
Leaders from the Congress, the Mamata AITC, and the CPI-M have raised allegations of voter intimidation, fake voting, booth capturing, and other issues in both constituencies.
Congress State president Subhankar Sarkar submitted a memorandum to the West Bengal CEO office, asking for the bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar to be cancelled, calling for repolling to take place. West Bengal Congress leaders have made allegations of voter intimidation, booth capturing, proxy voting, and EVM malfunctioning.
The Congress candidate for Nandigram, Milan Pradhan, who was arrested before the election, also alleged that booths were captured. “They are not letting people vote because then it will make history,” Mr. Pradhan said.
“Our Rejinagar Assembly constituency’s byelection, constituency number 70, is being controlled by the police. Vote looting is taking place at every booth,” the Congress candidate from Rejinagar, Abdullahil Kafi, said.
Altercation in Rejinagar
Noada MLA Humayun Kabir got into a physical and verbal altercation with the police, who then used force to remove him from the AJUP party office in Rejinagar. “He broke the law, so he was arrested, I will not make any further comments,” Sub-Divisional police officer Anandajit Hore said after Mr. Kabir’s arrest.
During the verbal altercation, police had told him he could not be there on the day of polling. “Do not work as their middleman. Do not do ‘vote chori.’ You are doing work for the thieves. I will not go home,” said Mr. Kabir. He was taken to the Rejinagar Police Station in a police vehicle.
Mr. Kabir had won the Rejinagar seat on May 4, but since he also won from Noada, he recused himself from Rejinagar and his son was nominated from there. However, since campaigning began, Mr. Kabir has alleged intimidation against the AJUP candidate.
The BJP candidate for Nandigram, Hasirani Rath, is also the bereaved mother of a deceased aide to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. She offered prayers on polling day. “Our Honourable Chief Minister, who has been Chief Minister for five months, has already completed most of the development work in Nandigram. This time, after I am elected, we will think about what more we can do for development,” Ms. Rath said.
Three-cornered fight
About 76% of 19.05 lakh electors voted in the byelection held in Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, which was necessitated after Pradyut Bordoloi, who won the constituency for the second successive term in 2024, quit the Congress to contest and win the Dispur Assembly seat on a BJP ticket.
Though 15 candidates are contesting in the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, which comprises eight Assembly segments in Morigaon and Nagaon districts. However, the contest is expected to be primarily among the BJP’s Devasish Sharma, a former bureaucrat; the Congress’s Sibamoni Bora, a former MLA; and the All India United Democratic Front chief Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal, an MLA and three-time former MP. All three exuded confidence about winning the seat.
Barring a minor confrontation over alleged vote-switching at a polling booth in Nagaon district’s Juria, the polling process was largely peaceful.