EC announces by polls for Dharmanagar Assembly seat on April 9

The Election Commission (EC), on Sunday, announced the by-elections to the two Assembly constituencies in two Northeastern states -- Tripura and Nagaland.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, while announcing the Assembly election schedule for four states -- Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry, also declared the bypolls to eight Assembly constituencies across Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura.

The CEC also announced the schedule for the bypolls in Dharmanagar Assembly constituency (Tripura) and Koridang Assembly constituency (Nagaland), the latter reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Polling for the two Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9, while the results will be declared on May 4.

The bypoll in Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district became necessary following the death of Tripura Assembly Speaker and veteran legislator Biswa Bandhu Sen.

Sen, 72, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on December 26, 2025, after undergoing medical treatment for more than four-and-a-half months.

He was elected to the Tripura Assembly four times -- twice from Dharmanagar on a Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013, and later in 2018 and 2023 as a nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the same Assembly constituency.

The main Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front on March 9 nominated former MLA Amitabha Datta as its candidate for the Dharmanagar seat bypoll.

The ruling BJP and other parties are yet to announce their candidates.

Meanwhile, the by-election in Koridang Assembly constituency in Nagaland was necessitated following the death of veteran Naga leader Imkong L. Imchen, who passed away at a private hospital in Guwahati on November 11, 2024, after a brief illness.

Imchen, 75, was elected to the Nagaland Assembly five times from the Koridang constituency -- first as an Independent in 2003, then on Naga People's Front tickets in 2008, 2013 and 2018, before winning on a BJP ticket in 2023.