New Delhi, Oct 2026 : Counting of votes for by-elections to Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, along with the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam, will take place on Friday. The results are expected to offer an electoral assessment of the parties involved and shape the political narrative in the respective states.
In Tamil Nadu, votes will be counted for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies, providing an early electoral test for Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government.
Counting will begin at 8 a.m., with postal ballots taken up first, followed by votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs). Both constituencies, reserved for Scheduled Castes, went to the polls on October 6 after an intensive campaign involving leaders of the ruling party and Opposition.
The bypolls are significant for the TVK government, which secured 108 seats in the Assembly election, falling short of the 118 seats required for a majority. The results will be closely watched for indications of the party’s electoral standing after assuming power.
In West Bengal, counting will be held for the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district. Polling in both constituencies took place under extensive security arrangements.
Nandigram has attracted particular attention following the last-minute withdrawal of Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate. Her withdrawal has fuelled expectations among some political observers that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Hasi Rani Rath could secure victory.
Dey is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a former personal assistant to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who was killed in Madhyamgram on May 6. Adhikari had said on Tuesday that the BJP candidate’s victory margin in Nandigram could exceed the margin he secured from the constituency in 2016.
Meanwhile, counting will also take place for the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in Puducherry and the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam.
The results from all four electoral contests will determine the fortunes of the candidates and parties involved. The outcome in Tamil Nadu, in particular, will be watched for its implications for the state’s new ruling party, while the West Bengal results will draw attention amid the contest between the TMC and the BJP.
Election authorities are scheduled to begin the counting process at 8 a.m., starting with postal ballots before moving to EVM votes.
