Bypolls to 6 Assembly seats on Nov 13, results on Nov 23

Kolkata: By-elections in six Assembly seats — Naihati, Haroa, Midnapore, Taldangra, Sitai and Madarihat — will take place on November 13. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced that bypolls for six Assembly seats in Bengal will be held on November 13, with results set to be declared on November 23.

These bypolls are critical for several political parties as they seek to regain or maintain their influence in the Assembly. The bypolls have been necessitated in these six Assembly seats as the elected MLAs in these seats contested the Lok Sabha elections and won from their respective constituencies they have contested for.

The ECI announced election dates not only for Bengal but also for the 48 Assembly constituencies and 2 Parliamentary seats spread across 15 states, including Maharashtra and Jharkhand. This also includes 9 out of the 10 vacant Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh.

After securing a clean sweep in the by-elections of four Assembly seats held earlier this year, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is now eyeing a victory in these six seats. The ruling party in Bengal during the 2021 Assembly elections won 5 out of these 6 seats except Madarihat where BJP won. BJP has not been able to win a single Assembly seat in Bengal by-elections which have taken place after the 2021 Assembly elections.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) had secured a clean sweep in the bypolls in Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin, Maniktala and Raiganj earlier this year. Apart from Maniktala all the other three seats belonged to BJP and therefore the result came as a big blow to the BJP. BJP lost three of their sitting seats — Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah — to the Trinamool Congress. Prior to the victory in these four seats, Sayantika Banerjee and Rayat Hossain Sarkar of TMC won the bypolls from Baranagar and Bhagwangola. TMC had a clean sweep in the bypolls in Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin, Maniktala and Raiganj.

In October 2021, Assembly by-poll took place in four seats — Dinhata (Cooch Behar district), Santipur (Nadia district), Khardaha (North 24-Parganas) and in Gosaba (South 24-Parganas). BJP failed to bag a single seat out of these four.