Six by‑polls across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam set for Tuesday

By‑elections for six seats – two assembly constituencies in West Bengal, two in Tamil Nadu, one assembly seat in Puducherry and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam – will be held on Tuesday with voting from 7 am and counting slated for 9 Oct.## West Bengal## The Suvendu Adhikari‑led BJP government faces its first test after winning the Assembly polls earlier this year. Nandigram and Rejinagar go to the polls amid candidate withdrawals, arrests and accusations of police pressure on opposition workers. In Nandigram, BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath, mother of Chandranath Rath, an aide of Adhikari who was shot dead on 6 May. The TMC’s Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew after meeting Adhikari; Mamata Banerjee then backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, calling it a move to strengthen the INDIA bloc. Pradhan was later arrested in old 2007 land‑acquisition cases, secured interim bail and resumed campaigning. A rival TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque, while CPI nominated Santigopal Giri. Rejinagar’s by‑poll arose because Humayun Kabir retained the Nowda seat he also won; his Aam Janata Unnayan Party fields his son Golam Nabi Azad. Other contestants include BJP’s Sakharav Sarkar, TMC’s Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, rival TMC’s Safiuzzaman Sheikh, Congress’s Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi and CPI(M)’s Syed Asad Ali.## Tamil Nadu## Madurantakam and Dharapuram were vacated by AIADMK legislators who switched to TVK chief‑CM C Joseph Vijay. Both seats see four‑cornered fights among TVK, DMK, AIADMK and CPI. TVK candidates are Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and P Sathyabama (Dharapuram). Madurantakam has 2,12,639 voters across 268 booths; Dharapuram has 2,22,406 voters in 282 booths.## Puducherry## The four‑month‑old NDA government led by N Rangasamy tests its popularity. Eleven candidates contest, with the main contest among AINRC’s Ashok Anand, Congress’s E Vinayagam (backed by TVK) and DMK’s K Sedhu Selvam. CPI’s M A Saleem and S Karthikumari of Naam Tamilar Katchi also stand.## Assam## The Nagaon Lok Sabha by‑poll features BJP’s former IAS officer Devasish Sharma, Congress’s ex‑MLA Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF’s MLA Badruddin Ajmal. The seat became vacant after MP Pradyut Bordoloi quit Congress for BJP. Fifteen candidates, including nine independents, vie for the seat. The BJP won four of the eight assembly segments under Nagaon in the recent state election, Congress three and Raijor Dal one.## Context