BJP announces candidates for bypolls in Nagaland, Tripura; Goa, Karnataka also on list

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 19 announced its candidates for the upcoming assembly by-elections, with Nagaland and Tripura among the key states going to the polls on April 9.

Daochier I Imchen has been fielded from the 28-Koridang (ST) constituency in Nagaland, while Jahar Chakraborty will contest from the 56-Dharmanagar seat in Tripura.

Both constituencies fell vacant following the deaths of sitting legislators — former minister Imkong L Imchen in Nagaland and senior leader and former minister Biswa Bandhu Sen in Tripura.

The by-elections are part of a broader exercise by the Election Commission of India to fill vacancies in eight assembly constituencies across six states, most of them necessitated by the deaths of incumbent members.

Apart from Nagaland and Tripura, the BJP has also named candidates for seats in Goa and Karnataka. Ritesh Ravi Naik will contest from the 21-Ponda constituency in Goa, while Karnataka will see Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot and Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davanagere South.

Polling for constituencies in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura will be held in the first phase on April 9. The second phase, covering seats in Gujarat and Maharashtra, is scheduled for April 23. Counting of votes for all constituencies will take place on May 4, with the election process set to conclude by May 6.

The gazette notification for the first phase was issued on March 16. The last date for filing nominations is March 23, while scrutiny will be carried out on March 24. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until March 26.

The by-elections are being conducted to fill vacancies in the respective state legislative assemblies.