By-Election 2026 Voting, Results Date LIVE: TN, West Bengal, Assam Bypoll Voting Percentage

Polling ended peacefully on Tuesday for byelections to two Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry that are being seen as a test of popularity for the incumbent coalition regimes headed by the TVK and AINRC respectively, with all three segments crossing the 80 per cent voting mark.

However, the voter turnout witnessed a dip in both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry when compared to the Assembly polls held in April this year.

In Tamil Nadu, Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly Constituencies, both reserved segments, registered a turnout of 86.26 and 80.30 per cent respectively, according to election authorities.

In 2026 April, Madurantakam and Dharapuram registered a voter turnout of 92.28 per cent and 88.92 per cent respectively, according to an official.

The outcome will be a measure of the public perception of the 4-month old TVK government headed by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, who seems to have invested much pride in the electoral battle. He addressed one public meeting each in both constituencies and took out extensive roadshows in Madurantakam and Dharapuram. PTI

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday alleged that a "silent terror" was unleashed under police leadership during the by-election at Rejinagar in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, thwarting the polling process.

The former Baharampur MP, who visited Rejinagar in the afternoon, also took a jibe at the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir, labelling him a "guest artist of the BJP" and his arrest earlier in the day a "drama".

"There is silent terror and vote-rigging in the Rejinagar by-election. No bombs were hurled, no gunshots were fired, and no blood was shed, which the people of Bengal are accustomed to seeing. But the police carried out terror without any hindrance, cast false votes and even distributed tickets," Chowdhury told reporters here. PTI

Polling ended peacefully on Tuesday for byelections to two Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry that are being seen as a test of popularity for the incumbent coalition regimes headed by the TVK and AINRC respectively.

Since morning, people turned up enthusiastically at the polling stations to exercise their franchise and the pace, after a lag in the afternoon picked momentum later.

The voting, which began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm, was peaceful and minor technical glitches in respect of EVMs in some booths were swiftly addressed by officials.

In Tamil Nadu, Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly Constituencies, both reserved segments, registered a turnout of 85.99 and 80.31 per cent respectively at 6 pm, according to election authorities.

The Thattanchavady segment in Puducherry recorded a turnout of 80.81 per cent at 6 pm. PTI

Voting for the bypolls to Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly constituencies of West Bengal concluded at 6 pm on Tuesday, a senior EC official said, adding that those still in the queue would be allowed to vote.

Nearly 79 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the two constituencies, according to the poll panel.

Voting was peaceful, with a few untoward incidents reported, the official said.

Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district recorded a polling percentage of 79.39, while Rejinagar in Murshidabad registered 78.42 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm. PTI

Voting for the by-election to the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam concluded peacefully at 5 pm on Tuesday as 76 per cent of 19.05 lakh electors exercised their franchise, an official said.

The final poll percentage, however, is expected to rise as electors who entered the polling stations before the closure of the gates would be allowed to cast their votes, he said.

The by-election was necessitated as Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and successfully contested the assembly elections from Dispur on a BJP ticket earlier this year.

"Voting, which commenced at 7 am, was peaceful as no untoward incident was reported from any polling station in the eight assembly segments under the Lok Sabha constituency," the official said. PTI

West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar on Tuesday demanded total re-polling in both Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly seats, where by-elections were underway, for alleged intimidation of voters and forcible eviction of our agents.

The party's Nandigram candidate Milan Pradhan alleged that the bypoll in the seat has been marked by "vote-loot, voters' intimidation and biased action of the police and security forces".

The Congress's Rejinagar nominee Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi also staged a sit-in outside the local police station, demanding cancellation of the bypolls and fresh polling.

"Our Rejinagar candidate has begun a sit-in before the local PS protesting the forcible eviction of our agents from over a hundred booths in that constituency. Later we found that Congress agents were roughed up and forced to leave from almost all the booths in Rejinagar," Sarkar alleged at a press conference in the party state unit's headquarters 'Bidhan Bhavan' in Kolkata. PTI

DMK MLA S Austin on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to launch an inquiry based on a video clip shared on social media purportedly featuring TVK candidate in the Dharapuram bypoll, P Satyabama, in which she is allegedly heard saying that she spent Rs 31 crore during the last Assembly election, when she contested on an AIADMK ticket.

Austin demanded stern action if irregularities are found in her election expenditure accounts.

Speaking to reporters at the secretariat here, the DMK legislator stated that a video is currently circulating in which Satyabhama purportedly admits to spending several lakh rupees on accommodation and campaigning for alliance leaders.

"The election authorities must verify whether Dharapuram Satyabhama has submitted her election expenditure statements. If she has failed to do so or exceeded the permitted limits, appropriate action must be initiated against her under the Representation of the People Act," Austin demanded.

He further noted that a formal complaint has been lodged with election officials regarding the matter. PTI

Polling remained peaceful in the by-election to the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam on Tuesday as an estimated 70.25 per cent of 19.05 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm, an official said.

Polling commenced at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.

The by-election was necessitated as Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and successfully contested the assembly elections from Dispur on a BJP ticket earlier this year.

"Polling has been peaceful so far, as no untoward incident has been reported from any polling station in the eight assembly segments under the Lok Sabha constituency. The voting percentage was 70.25 per cent till 3 pm," the official said. PTI

High drama unfolded during polling for the Dharapuram byelection when an intoxicated man attempting to cast his vote was stopped and escorted away by security personnel at a local polling booth.

On Tuesday morning, as voters queued up to exercise their franchise at Thalavaipatti polling station, police officers on duty noticed a man arriving at the polling station in a heavily inebriated state.

According to eyewitnesses and video footage captured at the scene, the individual struggled to walk steadily and created a momentary disturbance near the voting area.

Sensing a potential disruption to the election process and safety concerns inside the booth, police personnel acted swiftly. They intercepted the man, preventing him from entering the voting compartment, and safely escorted him out of the premises and urged him to exercise his franchise later in the afternoon after taking rest. PTI

The ruling BJP in West Bengal on Tuesday accused opposition parties of attempting to vitiate the atmosphere during the bypolls through provocative statements and efforts to trigger unrest, and urged the EC to ensure free and fair elections.

State BJP chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar alleged that opposition leaders were spreading false, inflammatory and divisive statements to create tension, and were preparing the ground to challenge the electoral outcome in anticipation of defeat.

Referring to remarks about a '70:30 ratio', the reconstruction of a Babri mosque and a statement wishing death upon Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Sarkar claimed these were not isolated incidents but reflected a pattern of provocative political messaging.

The Babri mosque reference relates to AJUP chief Humayun Kabir's controversial proposal to build a structure modelled on the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, which has become a political flashpoint in Bengal. PTI

AJUP chief and MLA Humayun Kabir was arrested following a heated exchange with police personnel at his party office in Rejinagar, Murshidabad, on Tuesday.

The arrest came hours after Kabir accused the police of acting at the behest of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and urged residents to resist alleged police excesses with *mugurs*, or heavy wooden clubs.

The confrontation, during which police personnel were seen pulling Kabir by his shirt and escorting him into a vehicle, put the spotlight on Rejinagar, where his son, Golam Nabi Azad, is contesting the bypoll on an AJUP ticket.

Murshidabad SP Sachin Makkar said Kabir was neither a candidate nor an authorised election agent in the bypoll and could not move around the constituency in the manner he had been doing.

Reports later said Kabir was arrested on allegations of attempting to influence voters and incite them, although formal details of the arrest were not immediately available.

Nearly 38 per cent of the 19.05 lakh voters in Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency had cast their ballots by 11 am on Tuesday in the bypoll, with no untoward incident reported, an official said.

The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the Lok Sabha seat and later successfully contested the Assembly elections from Dispur on a BJP ticket earlier this year.

Laharighat recorded the highest turnout at 42.49 per cent, while Nagaon-Batadraba registered the lowest at 30.54 per cent by 11 am.

BJP candidate Devashis Sharma, a former IAS officer, voted at Mayong Higher Secondary School in the Jagiroad Assembly constituency. Congress candidate and former MLA Sibamoni Bora cast her vote at Majgaon Primary School in the Nagaon-Batadraba Assembly segment.

The voter turnout in the by-elections to Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly seats in West Bengal stood at 19.47 per cent in the first two hours of polling on Tuesday, officials said.

The polling began at 9 am and will continue till 6 pm.

The Nandigram assembly seat in Purba Medinipur district recorded a polling percentage of 20.89 till 9 am, while Rejinagar in Murshidabad registered 18.05 per cent voter turnout during the same period.

The turnout in the initial two hours was encouraging, given that by-polls generally witness lower voter participation than general elections. The Nandigram seat was the epicentre of former CM Mamata Banerjee's anti-land acquisition movement that helped pave the way for the TMC's rise in 2011. It was also where BJP's Suvendu Adhikari defeated Banerjee in 2021.

Voting for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll began amid tight security on Tuesday, with 37 companies of central forces and around 700 state police personnel deployed across 323 polling booths. BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, Congress’ Milan Pradhan and CPI’s Shanti Gopal Giri visited polling booths as voting progressed. According to the Election Commission, 20.89% polling was recorded in Nandigram by 9 am.

The bypoll was necessitated after Suvendu Adhikari, who had won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, chose to retain Bhabanipur. The Election Commission also replaced Nandigram’s IC Ajay Kumar Mishra with Debashis Sarkar a day before polling, though no reason has been given for the move.

The constituency has 2,66,419 voters and 323 polling stations, including 79 identified as highly sensitive.

Aam Janta Unnayan Party president Humayun Kabir, after casting his vote in the Rejinagar bypoll in West Bengal, alleged that Muslim voters were being targeted and claimed that 64 of his supporters had been in custody for two months. He also accused the police of snatching voters’ slips and identity cards, taking people to polling booths and interfering with voting. Kabir alleged that, " The police are committing oppression, snatching voters' slips and ID cards. People are being taken along with the police and votes are being looted. The police captured booths to stop me. Whatever happens, I will fight. The common people will vote for me and I will win. You will see on the ninth. The common people will slap the BJP hard."