The crucial assembly bypoll in the two reserved constituencies of Tamil Nadu are set to witness an interesting five-cornered contest, with the Left parties announcing their candidates for the two seats.
The Election Commission of India had earlier this month announced the schedule for bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies and one Parliamentary constituency across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam. The Madurantakam seat fell vacant following the resignation of Maragatham Kumaravel, while the Dharapuram seat became vacant after the resignation of P Sathyabama. The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Humayun Kabir, while the Nandigram seat became vacant after the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari.
This will be the first electoral battle in the state after C Joseph Vijay-led TVK formed its maiden government with the help of allies after winning the April 23 Assembly polls. Polling will be held on October 6, with counting of votes scheduled for October 9. In Tamil Nadu, bypolls will be held in 35-Madurantakam (SC) and 101-Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies. In Puducherry, polling will take place in 09-Thattanchavady Assembly constituency, following the resignation of N Rangasamy. In West Bengal, bypolls have been scheduled in 70-Rejinagar and 210-Nandigram Assembly constituencies. In Assam, the 09-Nagaon Parliamentary constituency will also go to a bypoll following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi. The nominations of 58 candidates for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls were accepted on Thursday following scrutiny, the Election Commission (EC) said.
The nominations of 28 candidates were accepted in Madurantakam, while a total of 30 were found valid in Dharapuram, according to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) web portal.
