The Election Commission of India on Tuesday notified bypolls to four Bengal Assembly seats for October 30 with results on November 2, prompting objections from the BJP which criticised the polls in the middle festive season.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the commission notified the bypolls to Dinhata, Santipur, Khardah and Gosaba — part of a list of 30 Assembly seats and three Lok Sabha segments around the country.

“This is a time for festivals in Bengal. With Durga Puja and Lakshmi Puja, besides various other important occasions, before the bypolls, when does the campaign take place?” asked chief spokesperson for the state BJP Samik Bhattacharya.

“There is Kali Puja on November 4. …. What was the need for the commission to show such a hurry, even in the conduct of the September 30 elections, we do not know,” he added.

“The commission should first ensure the return of people who had to flee persecution for supporting the BJP. Without their return, the bypolls are meaningless.”

In Dinhata and Santipur, victorious BJP candidates Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar resigned, respectively, in order to continue as members of the Lok Sabha.

In Khardah, Trinamul Congress’s victorious candidate Kajal Sinha died of Covid-19 before the results, and in Gosaba, Trinamul winner Jayanta Naskar succumbed to post-Covid-19 complications in June.

Trinamul welcomed the decision.

“No constituency at the Assembly or the Lok Sabha level should be left vacant for too long. The decision was taken by the commission, we will abide by it,” said senior minister Firhad Hakim.

“Obviously, we are confident of winning the three bypolls on September 30 and the four on October 30,” he added.