Bypolls today in six seats, from Nandigram to Nagaon

On Tuesday, 6 October 2026, voting is being held in bypolls for six seats. Five are Assembly seats. One is a Lok Sabha seat. The Hindu, Hindustan Times and The Tribune report the schedule. This note is NP NOW. The seats, the vacancies and the names below are as those reports give them. This note does not predict a result.

The Assembly seats are Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal, Madurantakam (Scheduled Caste) and Dharapuram (Scheduled Caste) in Tamil Nadu, and Thattanchavady in Puducherry. The Lok Sabha seat is Nagaon in Assam. Campaigning ended at 5 pm on Sunday, 4 October. Counting is on Friday, 9 October.

The reports describe section 70 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, this way: if a candidate wins two seats, that person must give up all but one in time, or both seats fall vacant. Most of these six seats fell vacant that way. The India Code link in the sources is the Act. This note does not add a deadline the reports do not print.

In West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated Nandigram and kept Bhabanipur, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has no candidate in Nandigram after its nominee withdrew. It backs the Congress candidate, Milan Pradhan. The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath. Hindustan Times and The Hindu report that. Rejinagar was vacated by Humayun Kabir of AJUP, who kept Nawda. Hindustan Times reports that both Trinamool factions are contesting Rejinagar. This note does not name the factions beyond that.

In Tamil Nadu, Madurantakam and Dharapuram were vacated by former AIADMK MLAs who joined TVK and are now TVK candidates. The DMK, and the NDA led by the AIADMK, are also in the contest. The Hindu and Hindustan Times report that. The reports used here do not name those former MLAs. In Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy vacated Thattanchavady and kept Mangalam.

In Assam, Nagaon has 19,02,009 voters. That figure is the district administration's, as India Today NE reports it. The same report, and the key count used here, puts the field at 15 candidates. The Hindu names the main contenders as Devasish Sharma of the BJP, Sibamoni Bora of the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal of the AIUDF. The seat fell vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi left the Congress, joined the BJP and won Dispur. The Hindu is the report that account sits with.

The account supplied with these reports calls the bypolls the first electoral test for the new governments in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. That line is not a forecast. No result is predicted here.

Polling hours and booth details are not set out in this note. For those, check the Election Commission of India or your state's Chief Electoral Officer.

Neutral Politics checked these reports around 7:20 am IST on 6 October. The Hindu's live page and the other reports still had voting that day in all six seats, with counting on 9 October. No postponement was reported in that check. This note was posted at 7:21 am IST.

The cover is a Neutral Politics schematic map of India. It is not to scale, and it is not a photograph of any person.

What's next

Counting is on Friday, 9 October. Who wins any of the six seats is not known from these reports.