On July 10, the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA will face off in by-polls for 13 Assembly constituencies across seven states, including four in West Bengal. These polls follow a highly competitive Lok Sabha election season where the opposition performed better than expected. The by-polls are required due to the deaths and resignations of incumbent MLAs, with vote counting scheduled for July 13.
In West Bengal, the constituencies include Maniktala, Raiganj, Bagdah, and Ranaghat Dakshin. Maniktala, traditionally a Congress stronghold but now a TMC bastion, became vacant after TMC leader Sadhan Pandey's death. His widow, Supti Pande, will contest for TMC against BJP's Kalyan Chaubey. Raiganj was previously won by BJP's Krishna Kalyani, who switched to TMC and ran unsuccessfully for the Lok Sabha. Kalyani will now contest again for TMC against BJP's Manas Kumar Ghosh and CPM's Mohit Sengupta. Bagdah was initially won by BJP's Biswajit Das, who later joined TMC and lost in the Lok Sabha race. TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur will compete against BJP's Binay Kumar Biswas. In Ranaghat Dakshin, BJP’s Mukut Mani Adhikari joined TMC but lost the Lok Sabha race; he is now TMC's candidate against BJP's Manoj Kumar Biswas.
In Uttarakhand, the Badrinath seat became vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari joined the BJP and is now the BJP candidate against Congress’s Lakhpat Butola. Manglaur's seat fell vacant following the death of BSP MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari, with BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana running against Congress’s Qazi Nizamuddin.
In Himachal Pradesh, high-stakes contests will take place in Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh, all vacated by Independent MLAs who joined the BJP. Dehra will see a significant contest with Congress fielding Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, against BJP’s Hoshiar Singh. In Hamirpur, BJP’s Ashish Sharma will contest against Congress’s Pushpendra Verma, while in Nalagarh, BJP’s KL Thakur will face Congress’s Hardeep Singh Bawa.
In Tamil Nadu, the Vikravandi seat, vacated after DMK MLA N Pughazenthi's death, will see DMK’s Anniyur Siva, PMK’s C Anbumani, and NTK’s Dr. Abhinaya competing, with AIADMK boycotting the bypoll.
In Bihar, the Rupauli seat became vacant after JD(U) MLA Bima Bharti joined RJD. Bharti will contest for RJD, while JD(U) fields Kaladhar Mandal.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Amarwara (ST) seat became vacant after Congress’s Kamlesh Shah joined the BJP. Shah will contest for BJP against Congress’s Dheeran Shah Invati, with GGP also participating.
In Punjab, the Jalandhar West seat, vacated after AAP MLA Sheetal Angural joined BJP, will see AAP’s Mohinder Bhagat, Congress’s Surinder Kaur, and BJP’s Sheetal Angural competing.
These by-poll results could significantly influence the political strategies of both the INDIA bloc and the NDA as they approach the next general elections.
