Polls were held in five Assembly seats, one Lok Sabha constituency

Polling was held on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) in five parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry and one Lok Sabha seat in Assam. Madurantakam Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu recorded the highest voting percentage of 86%.

Another assembly seat that contested the Tamil Nadu elections was Dharapuram, where the turnout was just over 80%. Both seats in the state were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

Follow | The main points of the elections until the 2026 elections: Elections for five seats in the council, one seat in the LS end with a high turnout; minor incidents reported

Swapped loyalties

The by-elections to these two seats were prompted by the resignations of Magaratham Kumaravel of Madurantakam (SC) and P. Sathyabama of Dharapuram (SC), both of whom had won on All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) tickets in the 2026 state elections and subsequently switched to Tamilaga (TVKK) within three weeks of resigning from the Maysgam Kazhagam. 2026.

Both are in the fight, this time as nominees for TVK. The two constituencies are witnessing a multi-faceted contest that also has candidates from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), AIADMK and Naam Tamilar Katchi. Significantly, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI-Marxist, which provide external support to the TVK-led government, jointly fielded a candidate for these two seats.

In Puducherry, where polling was held in Thattanchavady Assembly segment, there was 80.8% voter turnout. The election was prompted by the resignation of AINRC chief and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who retained the Mangalam Assembly seat.

WB poll amid SIR drama

In West Bengal, where bypolls were held in Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly seats, voter turnout was close to 80%, despite the fact that many were unable to vote as their inclusion in the electoral roll is subject to appeal in the appellate tribunals. Opposition parties raised allegations of electoral malpractices, with the Congress seeking a recall in both constituencies.

The election poll trends till 5.30 pm showed Nandigram at 79.4% and Rejinagar at 78.4%. The Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal received 97 official complaints on the election day through designated portals.

The bypolls were needed as West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won two seats and then vacated Nandigram to retain Bhabanipur where he defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) MLA Humayun Kabir also won in both Rejinagar and Nowda in Murshidabad and later surrendered the Rejinagar seat.

Alleged voter intimidation, stall capture

Almost 19,000 electorates from these two seats who were unable to vote in the last council elections were also unable to exercise their right to vote in the elections. Their names were subject to a court order and still remain so.

Leaders from Congress, Mamata’s AITC and CPI-M have leveled allegations of voter intimidation, fake voting, booth capturing and other issues in both the constituencies.

Congress state president Subhankar Sarkar submitted a memorandum to the office of the West Bengal Chief Executive asking for cancellation of the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls and calling for repolling. West Bengal Congress leaders have leveled allegations of voter intimidation, booth capture, proxy voting and EVM failure.

Congress candidate for Nandigram Milan Pradhan, who was arrested before the election, also claimed booths were seized. “They don’t let people vote because then it goes down in history,” Mr. Pradhan said.

“By-elections in our Rejinagar Assembly constituency, ward number 70, are being controlled by the police. There is looting of votes at every booth,” Congress candidate from Rejinagar Abdullahil Kafi said.

Argument in Rejinagar

Noada MLA Humayun Kabir got into a physical and verbal altercation with the police, who then forcibly removed him from the AJUP party office in Rejinagar. “He broke the law so he was arrested, I will not comment further on that,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer Anandajit Hore said after Mr Kabir’s arrest.

During the verbal altercation, the police told him he could not be there on election day. “Don’t act as their go-between. Don’t do the ‘vote chori’ thing.” You are doing work for 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 had also won from Noada, he resigned from Rejinagar and his son was nominated from there. However, from the beginning of the campaign, Mr. Kabir allegedly intimidated the AJUP candidate.

The BJP candidate for Nandigram, Hasirani Rath, is also the bereaved mother of the late Chief Minister’s Assistant Suvendu Adhikari. She offered prayers on election day. “Our honorable Chief Minister, who has been the Chief Minister for five months, has already completed most of the development work in Nandigram. This time, when I am elected, we will think about what else we can do for development,” said Rath.

A three-cornered fight

About 76% of the 19.05 lakh voters voted in the by-election held in Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, which was necessitated after Pradyut Bordoloi, who won the constituency for a second term in 2024, quit the Congress to contest the Dispur ticket Assembly seat on the BJP.

Though 15 candidates are contesting for the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat which comprises eight assembly segments in Morigaon and Nagaon districts. However, the contest is expected to be primarily between BJP’s Devasish Sharma, a former bureaucrat; Congress’ Sibamoni Bora, former MLA; and All India United Democratic Front chief Mohammed Badruddin Ajmal, MLA and three-time former MP. All three exuded confidence in winning the seat.

Apart from a minor confrontation over alleged vote-switching at a polling station in Nagaon Juria district, the election was largely peaceful.

Published – 06 Oct 2026 22:27 IST