Seven Assembly seats across six states to go to bypolls on September 5

On September 5, seven assembly seats across six states will hold by-polls, in what will be the first contest between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition's Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.

In five seats, by-elections were necessitated by the deaths of sitting MLAs, while the two other MLAs resigned from their post. The seats to go to polls include Dumri in Jharkhand, Puthuppally in Kerala, Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, and Dhupguri in West Bengal.

Dumri, Jharkhand

The Dumri seat was vacated after the death of Jagarnath Mahto, who had been the Dumri MLA since 2005. Mahto, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) member, won the seat in the 2019 Assembly polls.

Durmi has 273,000 voters across 373 polling booths.

The JMM, now an INDIA bloc member, is fielding Mahto's wife, Bebi Devi, this time. All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) will field Yashoda Devi, but this time as the NDA candidate. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will also field its 2019 candidate, Abdul Rizvi.

The JMM-led ruling coalition holds 49 of the 80 total seats. At the same time, the JMM alone has 29 MLAs, and other coalition members include the Congress (17 MLAs), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) (one MLA), the Nationalist Congress Party (one seat). The BJP, with 26 MLAs, leads the Opposition with three AJSU MLAs in the NDA.

Puthuppally, Kerala

The Puthuppally seat was vacated after the death of Congress's Oommen Chandy, a two-time Chief Minister and Puthuppally MLA since 1970.

The Congress, which leads the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Kerala government, has named Chandy's son, Chandy Oommen as its candidate. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state, is fielding Thomas. The BJP is fielding Kottayam district unit president Ligin Lal to contest the poll. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is doubting first-time candidate Luke Thomas.

The 140-member Assembly has 98 LDF MLAs and 40 UDF MLAs. The CPI(M) has 61 seats, and the Congress has 20 seats. Puthuppally has 176,000 voters across 185 polling booths.

Dhanpur and Boxanagar, Tripura

Two seats will see by-polls in the state — one necessitated by the death of an MLA and the other by a resignation.

Both seats will feature a straight contest between the CPI(M) and BJP. The Congress is backing the CPI(M), while the recently founded tribal party Tipra Motha, led by erstwhile Tripuri royal Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, is not fielding a candidate and officially has not backed either the CPI(M) or the BJP.

Dhanpur is holding a by-poll since BJP's Pratima Bhoumik resigned to retain her Lok Sabha seat. The party is fielding Bhoumik's brother, Bindu Debnath, a local party leader. The CPI(M) is fielding Kaushik Chanda, who had lost in the 2023 Assembly poll.

In Boxanagar, a by-poll was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. The party is hoping to retain the Muslim-majority constituency with Haque's son, Mizan Hossain, who is also a state committee member of the party's youth wing. The BJP is fielding Tafajjal Hossain again.

Currently, the NDA government has 32 seats in the 60-seat Assembly. The Tipra Motha has 13 seats, followed by 10 for the CPI(M) and three for the Congress.

There are 50,147 voters in Dhanpur across 59 polling booths and 43,087 voters in Boxanagar across 51 booths.

Bageshwar, Uttarakhand

The Bageshwar seat will hold a by-poll following the death of sitting BJP MLA Chandan Ram Dass. The party is fielding Dass' wife, Parwati, in a direct contest against the Congress's Basant Kumar. The Samajwadi Party (SP) is also fielding a candidate, Bhagawati Prasad.

The BJP is the largest party with 46 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly, followed by the Congress at 19 and the BSP at two. Bageshwar, a Schedule Caste seat in the Kumaon region, has been held by the BJP since 2007. The constituency has 120,000 voters across 188 polling booths.

Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh

The Ghosi seat will hold a by-poll Dara Singh Chauhan resigned as the Samajwadi Party's Ghosi MLA to rejoin the BJP. The BJP has decided to field Chauhan once again over previous candidate, Vijay Kumar Rajbhar, also an OBC leader.

The SP candidate is fielding Sudhakar Singh, a Rajput who was the Ghosi MLA from 2012 to 2017 but has lost in consecutive Assembly polls since then. The Congress has opted not to field a candidate and is backing its INDIA partner. The BSP is also not contesting in the bypoll.

The Ghosi constituency has 440,000 voters across 340 polling booths. The NDA currently has 280 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly, including 255 from the BJP. The INDIA bloc has 119 MLAs — 115 from the SP, nine from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), and two from the Congress. The BSP has one MLA.

Dhupguri, West Bengal

The Dhupguri seat was vacated after the death of BJP's Bishnu Pada Ray. The BJP is fielding Tapasi Roy, the wife of late CRPF jawan Jagannath Roy who was killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir in 2021.

The Trinamool Congress is fielding Nirmal Chandra Roy, a professor at Dhupguri Girls College, and the CPI(M) is fielding Ishwar Chandra Roy, a folk artiste. The constituency has 260,000 voters across 260 booths.