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The Election Commission of India announced bye-elections to five Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal and to one Parliamentary Constituency in Assam.
All six vacancies arose from resignations, including Nandigram in West Bengal and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam.
Polling is on 6 October 2026 and counting on 9 October 2026, with the gazette notification on 9 September and nominations closing on 16 September.
EVMs with VVPATs will be used at every polling station, and the Model Code of Conduct takes effect immediately in the districts concerned.
Candidates with criminal antecedents must publish that information three times during the campaign in newspapers and on television, in three prescribed blocks of days.
Requires the Election Commission to fill a casual vacancy in Parliament or a State Legislature within six months of its occurrence. The obligation does not apply where the remainder of the member's term is less than one year, or where the Commission, in consultation with the Union Government, certifies that holding the poll in time is difficult.
Created four qualifying dates in a year for enrolment as a voter instead of a single one — the basis for the Special Summary and Special Intensive Revisions cited in the announcement.
Vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, State Legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President in the Election Commission; announcing and scheduling a bye-election is an exercise of this power.
A set of norms with no statutory backing, traced to the Kerala assembly elections of 1960; it is enforced by the ECI from the date of announcement and here applies district-wide, not merely constituency-wide.
Amended on 14 August 2013 to provide for VVPAT; Rule 49MA lays down the procedure when a voter complains about the particulars printed on the VVPAT slip.
Permanent constitutional body under Article 324 with superintendence, direction and control over elections to Parliament, State Legislatures and the offices of the President and Vice-President; it announces bye-election schedules, enforces the Model Code of Conduct and certifies the use of EVMs and VVPATs.
VVPATs were used with EVMs for the first time at the Noksen Assembly bye-election in Nagaland in September 2013, after the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 were amended that August.
The Supreme Court held that a paper trail was an indispensable requirement of free and fair elections, and that VVPAT was the way to provide it — the judicial origin of the machines now being deployed at every polling station.
The three-block publication requirement flows from Supreme Court directions in Writ Petition (C) No. 784 of 2015 and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011, which the ECI operationalised through its instructions of 16 September 2020.
The ECI worked as a single-member body from 1950 until 15 October 1989, after which it became the three-member body that now takes these decisions.
GS Paper 2 > Polity > Salient Features of the Representation of People's Act; Constitutional Bodies
Indian Polity > Elections and the Election Commission
Which Article of the Indian Constitution deals with the "Election Commission of India"?
Answer: Article 324
Who appoints the Chief Election Commissioner of India?
Answer: President
A poll held to fill a casual vacancy in a constituency between general elections, governed by Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, a printer attached to the EVM that shows the voter a slip confirming the vote cast; provided for by the 2013 amendment to the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
Norms of conduct for parties and candidates enforced by the ECI from the announcement of an election; it originated in Kerala in 1960 and has no statutory backing.