West Bengal Lok Sabha elections 2024: All eyes on Nisith Pramanik, Modi cabinet's youngest minister
West Bengal Lok Sabha elections 2024: At 35, Nisith Pramanik was Modi cabinet's youngest minister in 2021.
Coochbehar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri are the three of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal to vote on April 19, the first phase of the election. All these seats were won by the BJP in the 2019 elections. Nisith Pramanik, Union minister of state for home, is the most prominent candidate in the first phase.
Coochbehar: Sitting MP and central minister Nisith Pramanik will take on Trinamool's Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia. In 2019, Nisith Pramanik won the seat defeating Trinamool's Paresh Chandra Adhikary. In 2021, he became the youngest minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet at the age of 35.
Coochbehar Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven Assembly seats -- Mathabhanga, Cooch Behar Uttar, Cooch Behar Dakshin, Sitalkuchi, Sitai, Dinhata and Natabari. Only two of these constituencies are represented by TMC MLAs.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: Full coverage
Alipurduar: BJP's Manoj Tigga will take on Trinamool's Prakash Chik Baraik from this ST-reserved seat. In 2019, BJP's John Barla won the seat defeating Trinamool's Dasrath Tirkey. Alipurduar Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven assembly constituencies -- Tufanganj, Kumargram, Kalchini, Alipurduars, Falakatam Madarihat, Nagrakata.
Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 1: List of documents required for voting
Jalpaiguri: Sitting MP BJP's Jayanta Kumar Roy will be contesting against Trinamool's Nirmal Chandra Ray. In 2019, Jayanta Kumar Roy won the seat defeating Trinamool's Bijoy Chandra Barman. The SC-reserved seat comprises seven Assembly seats -- Mekliganj, Dhupguri, Maynaguri, Jalpaiguri, Rajganj, Dabgram-Phulbari and Mal.
INDIA candidates from these three constituencies
The Congress and the Left are fighting together in West Bengal. Though Trinamool Congress is part of the INDIA bloc, it is going solo in West Bengal. CPM's Debraj Barman is contesting from Jalpaiguri, Congress's Piya Roy Chowdhury and Forward Bloc's Nitish Chandra Roy from Coochbehar,
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose was scheduled to visit Coochbehar on April 18 and 19 which the Election Commission objected to in view of the silence period. The Governor issued a statement as he announced to have cancelled his visit. “My priority is to be with the people of Bengal. My focus is to fight against violence in the State, particularly during election. My field visits are for these purposes but there is an attempt to politicise the Governor’s office. I will not let anyone to lower the dignity of the office of the Governor," his statement read.
"I will not allow anyone to use me as a pawn on the political chess board. Under the Constitution no one can restrict the movement of a Governor. However, I do not want to get involved in the unsavoury political controversy around me. I am available to the people in the Peace Room over email / telephone 24x7. Because of unsavoury political implications, I am calling off my visit to North Bengal today," he said.
In the first phase, a total of 56,26,108 voters - 28,62,494 men, 27,63,506 women and 108 third-gender - are eligible to exercise their franchise in 5,814 booths.
