Fresh INDIA vs NDA fight as 13 assembly seats in 7 states go to bypolls on July 10

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA and the Opposition's INDIA bloc are set for another round of election battle as bypolls for 13 assembly constituencies across seven states will be held on July 10. Counting of votes will be held on July 13.

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Bypolls will be conducted on four seats in West Bengal - Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin (SC), Bagda (SC) –  and Maniktala, Rupauli in Bihar; Jalandhar West in Punjab; Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh; and Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu.

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Bypolls are being held in these seats due to vacancies from death or resignations of candidates.

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One of the key battles is in West Bengal, where 3 out of 4 seats were won by the BJP in 2021 but are vacant due to defections to the Trinamool Congress. In Raiganj and Ranaghat Dakshin, Krishna Kalyani and Mukut Mani Adhikhari, who were formerly in the BJP, will be contesting on a TMC ticket.

Uttarakhand is also a key state, with Badrinath being a holy site with a Char Dham shrine in it, which could influence voting patterns according to India Today.

In the Badrinath constituency, a former Congress MLA, Rajendra Bhandari joined the BJP, leaving it vacant and he returns to contest against Congress' candidate Lakhpat Butola, a former district panchayat president.

In Manglaur, a Muslim majority constituency, the Congress has fielded senior leader Qazi Nizamuddin, who has won from the seat three times. The BJP has never won the Manglaur seat since the creation of Uttarakhand and has fielded Kartar Singh Bhadana.

In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK has decided to boycott the elections in Vikravandi, expressing doubt that they will take place democratically.

In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress will be fielding Kamlesh Thakur, wife of the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. In Punjab's Jalandhar West, Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann has been personally campaigning for the AAP's candidate Mohinder Bhagat.

In Bihar, the battle is between the RJD and JD(U), both of whom have fielded candidates who are from the majority Gangota community. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is fighting to make a dent in Congress veteran Kamal Nath's constituency, with candidate Kamlesh Shah. The Congress have fielded Dheeran Shah Invati in the tribal-dominated constituency as well.