Big day for Congress and INDIA Bloc: Bypolls for 31 assembly seats and Wayanad tomorrow

Bypolls will be conducted on Wednesday for 31 assembly seats across 10 states and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, where Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Although these elections won't impact existing governments, they are significant for the Congress and the INDIA bloc, especially after a shocking defeat in Haryana. Rahul Gandhi vacated the Wayanad seat after retaining Rae Bareli.

In Wayanad, Priyanka is up against LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, NDA’s Navya Haridas, and 13 other candidates. This bypoll is a test for Priyanka to maintain the party's dominance and exceed the winning margin set by her brother Rahul who won by over 3.5 lakh votes in 2024 and 4.3 lakh votes in 2019.

Bypolls are also happening in Rajasthan (7 seats), West Bengal (6 seats), Assam (5 seats), Bihar (4 seats), Karnataka (3 seats), Madhya Pradesh (2 seats), and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Meghalaya.

In Sikkim, two seats — Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang — have already declared Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidates Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai as winners after their opponents withdrew.

Rajasthan will see bypolls in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh. Polling in Salumbar and Ramgarh are happening after the deaths of BJP MLA Amritlal Meena and Congress MLA Zubair Khan.

In West Bengal, the TMC had previously secured five of the six contested seats — Taldangra, Sitai-SC, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur — while the BJP held Madarihat.

Assam's five seats — Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, and Sidli — feature 34 candidates. The Congress fielded Jayanta Borah in Behali against alliance consensus, rejecting the seat allocation to CPI(ML) Liberation. Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi led the campaign, opposed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who campaigned for BJP’s Diganta Ghatowar. Lakhikanta Kurmi (CPI(ML)) and Ananta Gogoi (AAP) are also contenders. Samaguri drew attention due to reported violence and vandalism during the campaign.

In Bihar, bypoll is happening in Ramgarh, Tarari, Imamganj, and Belaganj. In Karnataka, JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting from Channapatna, replacing HD Kumaraswamy, now a Member of Lok Sabha. BJP's Bharath Bommai, son of ex-CM Basavaraj Bommai, is contesting from Shiggaon against Congress' Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. Sandur is also up for election.

In Madhya Pradesh, bypolls are scheduled for Budhni and Vijaypur. The bypoll to Vijaypur seat in Sheopur was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP. The Budhni seat was held by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He was elected to the Lok Sabha and is now a union agriculture minister.

Other constituencies where bypolls will be held are Chelakkara (Kerala), Vav (Gujarat), Raipur City South (Chhattisgarh), and Gambegre (ST) in Meghalaya.

The Election Commission has rescheduled bypolls for nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab, and an additional seat in Kerala for November 20.

(With inputs from PTI)