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Gandhis, Manmohan Singh among Congress’ 30 ‘star campaigners’ for Bengal
The list features names of three current chief ministers, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Union ministers, national spokespersons among others.
The Congress on Friday released a list of its ‘star campaigners' for the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal. The party will have total of 30 ‘star campaigners,’ including chief Sonia Gandhi, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot, among others.
“The following leaders of Indian National Congress, who would be campaigning for the ensuing First Phase of elections to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal to be held on 27th of March 2021,” read a letter from Congress general secretary KC Venugopal to the secretary of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Other prominent campaigners for the Congress include chief ministers Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh); Mallikarjun Kharge (leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha), former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury; former Union ministers Salman Khurshid, Jitin Prasada, RPN Singh; national spokespersons Randeep Singh Surjewala, Pawan Khera; Abhijit Mukherjee (son of late former President Pranab Mukherjee who was from Bengal); former cricketers Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin etc.
The Congress is contesting the assembly elections in the eastern state with the Left and the recently-formed Indian Secular Front (ISF), whose entry into the alliance has triggered a war of words within the party.
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West Bengal assembly elections are being seen primarily as a contest between two-term chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While Banerjee is the most prominent face of the TMC, and has vowed to campaign despite sustaining injuries in an alleged attack on March 10, the BJP will be represented by 40 ‘star campaigners,’ including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, among others.
Also Read | BJP names 40 star campaigners for first phase of Bengal polls. Full list here
West Bengal will vote across eight phases, between March 27 and April 29. Counting of votes and declaration of results is scheduled for May 2.
