New Delhi, Sep 9 - Bye-elections from 20 assembly constituencies in six states and Delhi will be held Thursday with a focus on Gujarat where the outcome would be seen as a popularity test for Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Seven of the constituencies are in Gujarat, seven in Bihar, two in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Delhi.
In Gujarat, bye-elections will be held in Chotila, Jasdan, Dhoraji, Kodinar, Dahegam, Sami and Data constituencies of Saurashtra and north Gujarat regions due to various reasons, including some legislators getting elected to the Lok Sabha in April-May polls.
Modi had claimed that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would fetch 24 of the 26 Lok Sabha seats from the state in the April-May elections, but ended up winning only 15 seats - only one more than what the party had in the 2004 elections.
Modi received another setback when his party lost a crucial municipal corporation election in its stronghold of Junagadh city last month.