Voting in high-stakes bypolls in three States, one U.T. today | LIVE

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Voting will take place today (October 6, 2026) for byelections to five Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, as well as to one Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. 

In West Bengal, bypolls will be held in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies. In the high-profile Nandigram constituency, the election was necessitated after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won two seats in the State elections earlier this year and decided to vacate this one. In Rejinagar, the BJP, Congress, the AJUP, as well as the two factions of the Trinamool Congress, are contesting.

In Tamil Nadu, the Assembly constituencies going to the polls are Madurantakam (SC) in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram (SC) in Tiruppur. The two Assembly segments were declared vacant following the resignation of Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama. The Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in the Union Territory of Puducherry will also go to the polls

In Assam’s Nagaon, where the Lok Sabha byelection will be held, the fight is expected to be between the ruling BJP, the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front.

The counting of votes is scheduled for Friday (October 9, 2026).

The stage is set for a triangular contest in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam, with the ruling BJP seeking to expand its base in this Muslim-majority constituency, and the Congress going all out to retain the seat by keeping its minority support base intact.

The AIUDF, the third prominent party in the fray, is fighting to maintain its influence after it was decimated to two MLAs from 16 in the April assembly election.

A total of 15 candidates, including nine Independents, are contesting the bypoll which will be held between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Preparations are complete for the polling exercise to be held today for byelections to Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly Constituencies and the Tamil Nadu voters are poised to decide the fortunes of the fledgling TVK regime which hinges on outside support for its survival.

The hectic campaign by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, DMK President MK Stalin, Leader of Opposition Udhyanidhi Stalin and AIADMK supremo Edappadi K Palaniswami, not seen often during run up to the bypolls, has only underscored the political significance as results are pretty crucial for both the ruling and Opposition camps.

For the TVK, the poll outcome will decide if it can shore-up its strength in the Assembly or not, and as regards the DMK, which did not expect to lose the April Assembly polls, it will be crucial to bounce back. After being pushed to the third spot, the AIADMK has strained every nerve to take back its space.

The bypolls face a tough five-corner fight as the ruling TVK, main opposition DMK, key Dravidian party AIADMK, the Left Front, and Tamil nationalist TVK are in the fray.

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