Bypolls to seven assembly seats is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Tuesday which will be a litmus test for the newly-constituted Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or I.N.D.I.A. of the Opposition parties. The results of the polls, which will be the first one to be held after the formation of the alliance, will be announced on Friday, the Election Commission said last month. Dumri assembly seat in Jharkhand, Boxanagar and Dhanpur seats in Tripura, Dhupguri assembly constituency in West Bengal, Ghosi seat in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally seat in Kerala, and Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand will undergo the bypolls.
Dumri, Jharkhand: The Dumri constituency in Jharkhand fell vacant after the demise of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Jagarnath Mahto, former education minister in April. The I.N.D.I.A. bloc has fielded JMM candidate and Mahto’s wife Bebi Devi against National Democratic Alliance’s Yashoda Devi nominated by All Jharkhand Students’ Union.
Dhanpur and Boxanagr, Tripura: Campaigning for both the seats ended on a high note on Sunday with Chief Minister Manik Saha leading the campaign for Bharatiya Janata Party on one side and CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar and party's state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury on the other. BJP's Tafajjal Hussain will take on CPI(M)’s Mizan Hussain in minority-dominated Boxanagar seat while BJP's Bindu Debnath and CPI(M)’s Kaushik Debnath will be in a direct fight in Dhanpur.
Dhupguri, West Bengal: The bypoll in Dhupguri was necessitated owing to the demise of BJP MLA Bishnupada Roy in the last week of July, and comes close to heels with the panchayat elections that saw widespread violence. Heavy security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polls in the constituency, dotted with several tea gardens and forest areas in Birpara, Binnaguri and Nagrakata. A three-faced battle on this seat will see two I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies, Congress and Trinamool Congress against each other with BJP being the third contender.
Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh: The bypoll in Mau district’s Ghosi seat in Uttar Pradesh was necessitated following the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan who switched sides with BJP. A total of 10 candidates are in the fray for this seat with no contender from Bahujan Samaj Party. I.N.D.I.A. allies Congress, Left parties, and Aam Aadmi Party have extended support to SP who has fielded Sudhakar Singh against Chauhan who is seeking re-election.
Bageshwar, Uttarakhand: I.N.D.I.A. and NDA alliance will be in a direct fight on this seat as well for which the bypoll was necessitated following the death of BJP MLA Chandan Ram Das. Parvati Das, the wife of the deceased MLA has been fielded by BJP who will face Congress’s Basant Kumar.
Puthuppally, Kerala: Another I.N.D.I.A. ally, CPI(M) has fielded Jaick C Thomas from this constituency, while the Congress-UDF candidate is Chandy Oommen, the son of late former chief minister Oomen Chandy whose demise necessitated the bypoll on this seat.