‘First off the block’: BJP announces candidates for West Bengal Assembly bypolls
Kolkata, Oct 19 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Taking a lead over other parties, including the ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP on Saturday announced candidates for six assembly constituencies in West Bengal that will be going for bypolls on November 13.
The six assembly constituencies that will be going for polls next month are Sitai in Cooch Behar district, Madarihat in Alipurduar district, Naihati and Haroa in North 24 Parganas, Medinipur in West Midnapore district, and Taldangra in Bankura district.
A statement issued by the BJP said that Dipak Kumar Roy would contest from Sitai, Rahul Lohar from Madarihat, Rupak Mitra from Naihati, Bimal Das from Haroa, Subhajit Roy from Medinipur, and Ananya Roy Chakraborty from Taldangra.
The BJP is the first major political party in the state to announce their candidates for the six Assembly constituencies. The other three major political forces – the ruling Trinamool Congress, the Congress, and the CPI-M-led Left Front are yet to announce their candidates.
It is also uncertain whether the Congress and the Left Front will continue with their seat-sharing arrangement as they did since the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections.
All these six constituencies are going for by-polls as the sitting MLAs had quit after winning the Lok Sabha elections this year. Barring Madarihat, which was held by the BJP, the Trinamool had won all the remaining five seats in the 2021 Assembly polls.
The by-polls are extremely crucial for both Trinamool and the BJP, considering that they will be conducted against the backdrop of the boiling situation in West Bengal amid the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August, and the consequent protests, especially by junior doctors, some of which are on a fast-unto-death for their demands.
