West Bengal polls: Congress declares candidates on 284 seats; Adhir Ranjan to contest from Baharmpur

Kolkata:

The Congress Party on Sunday announced its candidates for 284 seats in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. Senior leader and former Leader of the Opposition, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, will contest from the Baharampur Assembly constituency. Chowdhury expressed his wish to contest the assembly election at several occassions in the recent past. In another significant move, former MP Mausam Noor, who joined the Congress recently, has been nominated from Malatipur.

The party has named Pradip Prasad from Bhabanipur, where Mamata Banerjee is in fray and successfully contested in last election.

Key contenders in Congress’ first list and their seats:

• Madhap Rai- Darjeeling
• Abdul Hannan- Sujapur
• Susmita Biswas- Dum Dum
• Gautam Bhattacharya- Diamond Harbour
• Souvik Mukherjee- Asansol Dakshin
• Prasenjit Puitandi- Asansol Uttar

The final list of candidates was approved after a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) held in Delhi on Saturday. 

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, along with AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and several leaders from West Bengal, participated in the meeting.

Notable attendees also included former West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CEC members Ambika Soni, Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Khurshid, TS Singhdeo, KJ George, PL Punia, and Amee Yajnik. Additionally, AICC in-charge for West Bengal, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, was present.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir stated that the party was fully prepared to contest all 294 seats independently. He added that the candidates were selected following extensive screening and consultations to ensure a strong electoral lineup.

"Around 2500 applications had come in for the 294 seats... After screening, a meeting of the CEC took place today at the highest forum where this was discussed... As per the wishes of our workers and the people, our candidates will contest on all 294 seats, and we will participate in the West Bengal elections with full strength," he said.

Notably, the Congress party and its Left Front ally failed to secure any seats in the 2021 Assembly election in West Bengal.

Voting for the West Bengal Assembly elections will take place in two phases, on April 23 and April 29, covering all 294 seats. The election results are scheduled to be announced on May 4.