By-elections in four assemblies, Ranaghat Dakshmin, Bagda, Raiganj and Maniktala will be held on 10 July while six other Assemblies Sitai, Matharihat, Naihati, Taldangra, Medinipur and Haroa will go for by-polls before the Durga Puja festivals.
Sitting MLAs in Assemblies except Maniktala had contested recently held Lok Sabha polls. Maniktala Assembly was lying vacant after the death of the then Trinamul Congress MLA Sadhan Pandey in 2022.
On Monday, Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the date of by-polls in the Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, Raiganj and Maniktala.
The national poll panel said that by-polls in the four Assemblies would be held on 10 July and counting would be announced on 13 July.
The last date for submitting nominations in the four constituencies is 21 June while for withdrawing is 26 June, according to the ECI.
According to sources in the commission, by-polls in six other Assemblies in the state like to be held before the Durga Puja.
Ruling Trinamul Congress had fielded MLAs like Jagdish Basunia of Setai in Cooch Behar, Partha Bhowmick, irrigation minister of Naihati in North 24-Parganas, Arup Chakraborty of Taldangra in Bankura, June Maliya of Medinipur, and Hazi Nurul Islam of Haroa in LS constituencies – Cooch Behar, Barrackpore, Bankura, Medinipur and Bashirhat.
Mr Basunia defeated Nisith Pramanik, former Union minister of home affairs in Narendra Modi cabinet, in Cooch Behar LS constituency while Mr Bhowmick won from Barrackpore against the BJP’s strongman Arjun Singh.
Mr Chakraborty defeated Subhas Sarkar, BJP candidate and former Union minister of state for education, in Bankura parliamentary constituency.
BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul lost to Mrs Maliya in Medinipur LS seat while Mr Islam nominated against BJP’s Rekha Patra in Basirhat won the battle.
The five Trinamul Congress MLAs who have won in the respective LS constituencies will have to resign as members of the state Legislative Assembly after taking oath as MPs.
Manjoj Tigga, a BJP MLA of Matharihat won the Alipurduar parliamentary seat with the saffron party ticket. He will have to resign as a MLA after taking oath as a MP.
On the other hand, three contestants Krishna Kalyani, Biswajit Das and Mukutmani Adhikari had won from Raiganj, Bagda and Ranaghat Assemblies in 2021.
But all three left BJP and also resigned as MLAs to fight in LS polls in Raiganj, Bongaon and Ranaghat with Trinamul Congress tickets.