The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced October 6 as the polling date for by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal -- Nandigram and Rejinagar. The ECI announced the schedule for the two bypolls on Monday.
The Nandigram seat became vacant after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and incumbent West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari resigned as MLA. The Rejinagar constituency was also left vacant following the resignation of Humayun Kabir.
The bypoll announcement is expected to trigger fresh speculation about whether Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee will contest from Nandigram as she seeks to make a comeback to the West Bengal Assembly.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the formal notification for the by-elections will be issued on September 9. Candidates will have until September 16 to submit their nominations, followed by scrutiny on September 17. The deadline for withdrawing nominations has been set for September 19.
Voting in both constituencies will take place on October 6, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 9.
The Election Commission also announced bypolls for three Assembly constituencies - Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu, and Thattanchavady in Puducherry. Voting will also be held for the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam.
Will Mamata Banerjee contest the Nandigram bypoll?
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari gave up the Nandigram seat after winning both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the May 2026 Assembly elections. He chose to retain Bhabanipur, where he defeated Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari had also defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections.
The TMC has not commented on reports that Mamata Banerjee could be considering a contest in the Nandigram bypoll.
In Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had won both Mangalam and Thattanchavady in the elections held around the same time. After taking oath for a fifth term, he resigned from Thattanchavady and retained the Mangalam seat.
The two Tamil Nadu constituencies — Madurantakam and Dharapuram — were vacated after sitting AIADMK MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama resigned from their seats and joined the ruling TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay.
Their decision followed a floor test in which a faction of AIADMK MLAs supported the TVK government.
The EC said the special intensive revision of electoral rolls for all the constituencies concerned was carried out between February 10 and February 28. It added that the rolls will continue to be updated until the deadline for filing nominations, based on applications received at least 10 days before the nomination deadline.
