ECI Announces Bypoll Schedule: Voting In Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Puducherry And Assam On October 6, Counting On October 9

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the election schedule for vacant Assembly constituencies across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal, and one Parliamentary constituency in Assam, with voting scheduled to take place on October 6 and counting of votes on October 9.

According to the official schedule released by the Commission, the formal Gazette notification for the elections will be issued on September 9, 2026. The deadline for filing nomination papers is September 16, followed by scrutiny of nominations on September 17. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until September 19.

The polling will be conducted on October 6 (Tuesday), and the counting of votes will take place on October 9 (Friday). The Commission stated that the entire election process is slated for completion before October 11, 2026.

Ahead of the elections, the poll panel had also notified the schedule for the final publication of electoral rolls across the respective constituencies.

The final rolls for the Nagaon Parliamentary Constituency in Assam were published on February 10, followed by the Thattanchavady Assembly seat in Puducherry on February 14.

In Tamil Nadu, the final electoral rolls for the Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies were released on February 23, while the rolls for the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly constituencies in West Bengal were finalized on February 28 following comprehensive revision drives. 

The vacancies in these constituencies arose due to the resignations of their respective sitting lawmakers. In Tamil Nadu, the Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) seats fell vacant following the resignations of Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, respectively. The Thattanchavady seat in Puducherry was vacated by N. Rangasamy.

In West Bengal, bypolls were necessitated in Rejinagar and Nandigram following the resignations of Humayun Kabir and Suvendu Adhikari, respectively, while in Assam, the Nagaon Parliamentary Constituency fell vacant following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi.