Kolkata: The bypolls for Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal will be conducted on October 6 that is just before the forthcoming Durga Puja festival in the state.
The date of issue of gazette notification in the matter will be on September 9 and the last date of nomination will be on September 16, according to an announcement made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday evening.
The date of scrutiny of nominations will be on September 17, while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be on September 19.
While the polling will be conducted on October 6, the counting of votes and poll results will be declared on October 9.
The date before which the elections will have to be concluded is October 11.
In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly Elections earlier this year, the current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari got elected both from Nandigram as well as from Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency in South Kolkata.
At Bhabanipur, Adhikari got elected by defeating his predecessor and the former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of more than 15,000 votes.
Thereafter, CM Adhikari retained the Bhabanipur constituency, thus necessitating bypolls for Nandigram.
On the other hand, former Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir, contested and got elected as an Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) candidate from both Naoda and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies, both in Murshidabad district.
However, later Humayun Kabir decided to retain Naoda, thus necessitating bypolls for Rejinagar seat.
Since 2021, Nandigram, because of Suvendu Adhikari, had been a virtual fortress for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Therefore, political observers are not in two minds about the results of the bye-elections there.
However, political observers say that because of the demography of Rejinagar, this particular Assembly constituency will be quite tough to win for the BJP.
“On the other hand, Trinamool Congress, which is now divided into three factions, also does not seem to be having much poll prospects from Rejinagar this time. Rather, CPI-M and Congress can view the opportunity for increasing their tally in the West Bengal Assembly constituency by one seat. The Rejinagar bypolls might also give some indication about where the minority votes in the state might shift to in the coming days,” a Kolkata-based political observer said.
(IANS)
