Agartala/Kohima, March 15: The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday announced by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in the Northeast — Dharmanagar in Tripura and Koridang in Nagaland. Polling for both seats will be held on April 9, while the counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar made the announcement while unveiling the Assembly election schedule for Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Along with the state poll schedule, the EC also declared bypolls to eight Assembly constituencies across Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura.
In Tripura, the by-election will be held in the Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura district following the demise of veteran leader and Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly, Biswa Bandhu Sen. Sen, 72, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on December 26, 2025, after undergoing treatment for more than four-and-a-half months.
Sen had a long political career and was elected to the Tripura Assembly four times from Dharmanagar. He first won the seat as a Congress candidate in 2008 and retained it in 2013. Later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was re-elected from the same constituency in 2018 and 2023.
The opposition CPI(M)-led Left Front has already announced former MLA Amitabha Datta as its candidate for the Dharmanagar bypoll. However, the ruling BJP and other political parties are yet to declare their nominees for the seat.
Meanwhile, the by-election to the Koridang Assembly constituency in Nagaland has been necessitated following the death of veteran Naga leader Imkong L. Imchen. Imchen, 75, passed away at a private hospital in Guwahati on November 11, 2024, after a brief illness.
Imchen was a prominent political figure in Nagaland and was elected to the state Assembly five times from Koridang. He first won the seat as an Independent in 2003, followed by victories on Naga People’s Front tickets in 2008, 2013 and 2018, and later as a BJP candidate in 2023.
