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Congress releases first list of 13 candidates for Bengal assembly elections
Candidates contesting from heavyweight constituencies Kakdwip, Purulia and Bankura among others have been announced.
The Congress on Saturday released the names of its first set of candidates for the initial two phases of the assembly elections in West Bengal, which will be held from late March. The party announced the names of 13 candidates, including a woman, who will be contesting the polls scheduled to be held in eight rounds.
Candidates for Purulia, Egra, Bhagabanpur, Baghmundi and Balarampur constituencies, which go into polls in the first phase, have been announced by Congress. Names of candidates have also been declared for Patharpratima, Kakdwip, Moyna, Kharagpur Sadar, Bishnupur, Katalpur and Sabang seat—all of which will vote in the second phase of the elections.
The party’s Central Election Committee on Friday met to finalise the names of candidates for the first two phases of the West Bengal assembly polls. The decision of the Congress and the Left Front to fight the elections with the ISF, whose leaders are known for making provocative statements, has created controversies within the party as well.
The Congress, which is part of the Sanyukt Morcha, is fighting the elections against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) partnering with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF). It is likely to contest on 90-92 seats, out of the 294, with the rest going to its allies.
The names of the Congress’ candidates were announced hours after the BJP released its first list of 57 candidates. On Friday, the Trinamool Congress released its list of 291 candidates. West Bengal will go into polls from March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 2.
