West Bengal is holding by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar after representatives elected earlier this year chose to serve constituencies they had also won. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the support of 207 members in the 294-seat Assembly. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress and Left parties are also contesting. For the first time, the TMC is campaigning under a football-player symbol rather than its familiar flowers-and-grass emblem.
In Nandigram, home to about 250,000 people and an electorate that is roughly 27% Muslim, the BJP has nominated Hasirani Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant. Chandranath Rath was shot dead on May 6, two days after the BJP first took power in the state and ended Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule. Hasirani Rath has spoken about her loss and described herself as Nandigram’s daughter and a mother to local families; she visited 13 temples during the campaign. Adhikari has called the constituency a prestige contest and urged supporters to secure a record margin. He defeated Banerjee there by 1,956 votes in 2021. In the 2026 election he won Nandigram again by about 9,665 votes, but chose to represent Bhabanipur after also winning there, defeating Banerjee once more.
Nandigram has long been associated with political change. In 2007, protests against the forcible acquisition of land for a chemical hub left 14 people dead and became a defining episode in the movement that led to the Left Front government’s defeat in 2011. A slogan once used by West Bengal’s Left to protest the Vietnam War was recast as a call to fight for Nandigram. The by-election campaign again draws on the constituency’s history and its symbolic place in state politics.
Banerjee initially backed Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who later withdrew. She then supported Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. Within hours, he was arrested in a case dating back 19 years. Pradhan had been involved in the 2007 land movement; he is now in judicial custody until October 3, and the Calcutta High Court denied his bail plea on September 22. In a video message, his wife Arpita questioned why he was arrested only after becoming the Congress candidate, despite appearing at public events. Congress is campaigning under the line “We are all Milan.” Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader in Parliament, called the arrest political revenge and questioned whether the election could be fair. Those are political allegations, not findings by a court.
Rejinagar has more than 256,000 voters, about 69% of them Muslim. The largely rural constituency in Murshidabad district spans two blocks and nearly 14 panchayats, with the Bhagirathi River running through it. Residents describe limited employment, transport and access to health care. The by-election followed the resignation on June 4 of Aam Janata Unnyan Party (AJUP) leader Humayun Kabir. He won two constituencies in the 2026 Assembly election, including Rejinagar by more than 58,000 votes, and vacated the seat. AJUP has nominated his son, Golam Nabi Azad.
The BJP’s candidate is Sakharav Sarkar; Congress has fielded Abdullahil Kafi; the Banerjee-backed TMC faction has nominated former legislator Rabiul Alam Chowdhury; Democratic TMC has chosen Safiuzzaman S.K.; and the CPI(M) candidate is Saeed Asad Ali. Chowdhury represented the seat three times, first for Congress and later for TMC. Kabir and the Banerjee-backed faction have alleged intimidation by the police and administration. Kabir says 15 of his workers have been arrested. He was questioned on September 21 and 23 about a viral audio clip concerning communal tensions. Police arrested independent candidate Saiful Islam on September 19; he is described as having close ties to AJUP. The parties’ accusations have not been independently established.
Sarkar is described as the only candidate campaigning actively across Rejinagar. The BJP is seeking support from Hindu voters and hopes minority votes will split. Sarkar has promised development and accused the previous TMC leadership of neglecting the area. Kabir has curtailed his own campaigning and says he will reach voters through Facebook. Residents describe an unusually quiet contest. Purnima, from Gopalchak, says she sympathizes with a mother who lost her son. Amina Bibi, from Mohammadpur, criticizes Adhikari for not returning to the area after becoming chief minister. Voters also point to the nearest hospital being about 5–6 kilometres away and to transport difficulties across the river. The contests are therefore testing not only party strength but voters’ confidence in the fairness of campaigning.