India, July 7 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced bypolls on July 24 to three Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal, which were vacated following the resignation of three former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs last month. The BJP is likely to emerge as the clear favourite to win all three seats. These polls will boost the tally of the BJP in the Upper House of the Parliament and bring the NDA close to the two-thirds mark.

The bypolls, scheduled for July 24, were necessitated by the resignations of former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik, who quit both the Upper House and the party in June following the party's defeat in the Assembly elections.

The terms of Roy and Baraik wer...