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%. 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. In Puducherry, where the bypoll was held in the Thattanchavady Assembly segment, there was 80.8% voting. 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. 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.
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. Both seats in the State were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. The byelections to these two seats were necessitated by the resignations of Magaratham Kumaravel from Madurantakam (SC) and P. 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. The election was caused by the resignation of AINRC chief and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who retained the Mangalam Assembly seat. Opposition parties raised allegations of electoral malpractice, with the Congress seeking a repoll in both the constituencies. Their names were put under adjudication, and still remain in that state.
