The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in the Northeast—Dharmanagar in Tripura and Koridang in Nagaland—with polling scheduled for April 9 and counting of votes on May 4.
The announcement was made by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar while unveiling the schedule for Assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Alongside the state election schedule, the poll panel also declared bypolls for eight Assembly seats across several states, including Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura.
The by-election in the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district was necessitated by the death of veteran legislator and former Speaker of the Tripura Assembly, Biswa Bandhu Sen.
Sen, 72, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on December 26, 2025, after undergoing treatment for several months.
A prominent political figure in the state, he served as a member of the Tripura Assembly four times.
He was first elected from Dharmanagar on a Indian National Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013, and later represented the constituency in 2018 and 2023 as a nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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The opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front has already announced former MLA Amitabha Datta as its candidate for the Dharmanagar bypoll, while the ruling BJP and other parties are yet to declare their nominees.
In Nagaland, the by-election in the Koridang Assembly constituency—reserved for Scheduled Tribes—became necessary following the demise of veteran Naga leader Imkong L. Imchen.
Imchen, 75, died at a private hospital in Guwahati on November 11, 2024, after a brief illness.
He represented the Koridang constituency in the Nagaland Assembly five times, first winning as an Independent candidate in 2003.
He later secured victories on the ticket of the Naga People’s Front in 2008, 2013 and 2018, before winning the seat in 2023 as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Polling for both Dharmanagar and Koridang constituencies will take place on April 9, with the results scheduled to be declared on May 4.
