Voting for by-elections to five Assembly seats across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala will begin at 7 am today, June 19. Though the number of constituencies is limited, the stakes are significant for both the ruling NDA and the INDIA bloc, with several local-level prestige battles and alliance tensions coming to the fore.
PUNJAB: AAP AIMS TO RETAIN LUDHIANA WEST
In Ludhiana (West), the bypoll has been scheduled owing to the death of sitting AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi. The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora to retain its hold on the urban seat. Arora faces Bharat Bhushan Ashu from Congress, Jiwan Gupta from BJP, and Parupkar Singh Ghumman from the Shiromani Akali Dal.
This contest is being closely watched not only for the seat itself but for its potential implications for the Rajya Sabha. A win for Arora may open the door for AAP to nominate former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal or his former deputy Manish Sisodia to the Upper House, though the party has denied such plans.
Campaigning saw top leaders from both camps in action, with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Arvind Kejriwal, and Atishi backing AAP, and BJP deploying Delhi and Haryana CMs Rekha Gupta and Nayab Singh Saini. Despite having fought the 2024 general elections in an alliance, AAP and Congress are pitted against each other in this crucial contest.
WEST BENGAL: KALIGANJ VOTE SHAPED BY MINORITY OUTREACH
In West Bengal, the bypoll in Kaliganj follows the death of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed. The ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded his daughter, Alifa Ahmed, in a move aimed at consolidating both women and minority voters. BJP has fielded Ashish Ghosh, a grassroots party functionary, while the Congress-Left alliance has nominated Kabil Uddin Sheikh.
Coming ahead of the 2026 assembly election and amid controversies such as the teacher recruitment scam, the Kaliganj bypoll holds symbolic weight for Mamata Banerjee’s party. The TMC, which had wrested the seat from Congress in 2021, is confident of retaining its hold, while the Congress-Left front hopes to revive its rural base.
GUJARAT: TRIANGULAR FIGHTS IN KADI AND VISAVADAR
Bypolls in Gujarat are being held in Kadi and Visavadar. In Kadi, the seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki. BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda, Congress has nominated Ramesh Chavda, and AAP has fielded Jagdish Chavda. The contest could reveal the Dalit community’s voting patterns in the region.
Visavadar saw its sitting MLA Bhayani Bhupendrabhai resign from AAP and join BJP. BJP has now fielded Kirit Patel, while Congress has put up Nitin Ranpariya. AAP has fielded prominent party leader Gopal Italia. The fight is expected to be triangular, with local dynamics and defections playing a key role.
KERALA: NILAMBUR TURNS INTO MULTI-CORNERED CONTEST
In Nilambur, the bypoll comes less than a year before the next Assembly election in Kerala. The seat was vacated by P.V. Anvar, a two-time winner with Left backing who later aligned with the Congress before eventually entering the fray as an Independent.
Congress has fielded Aryadan Shoukath, son of former MLA Aryadan Mohammed, while the ruling LDF has named M. Swaraj as its candidate. Anvar’s candidacy, initially floated under the TMC banner, has added an unpredictable dimension to the contest. Nilambur, which falls under Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency now held by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has become a prestige seat for both alliances.
Counting of votes for all five seats will take place on June 23.