Left Front announces 192 candidates for Bengal polls, fields Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya from Jadavpur

The list includes several prominent leaders of the alliance, with outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and CPI(M) central committee member Minakshi Mukherjee among the key nominees.

Key leaders in major constituencies

Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya has been nominated from the Jadavpur constituency on the southern outskirts of Kolkata. 

The seat is expected to be one of the key urban battlegrounds in the coming election.

Minakshi Mukherjee, considered one of the most prominent young faces of the Left Front, will contest from Uttarpara in Hooghly district. 

Mukherjee had previously contested from Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections.

That election turned into a high-profile contest in which BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari defeated Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, while Mukherjee finished third in the triangular fight.

Symbolic nomination in Kaliganj

In a politically significant move, the Left Front has fielded Sabina Yasmin from Kaliganj. 

Yasmin is the mother of six-year-old Tamanna, who died in a crude bomb blast allegedly thrown from a victory rally during the counting of the Kaliganj by-election in June last year.

The by-election was won by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and the incident had sparked widespread debate and criticism over political violence in the state.

Remaining candidates to be announced soon

Left Front chairman Biman Bose said the candidates for the remaining constituencies would be finalised shortly. 

He indicated that the alliance is expected to announce the rest of its nominees within the next three to four days after completing internal consultations and seat-sharing discussions among its partners.

The announcement of the first list marks a major step in the Left Front’s preparations as it seeks to regain political ground in the state after suffering setbacks in recent elections.

Congress stakes claim in polls

Meanwhile, the Congress has also stepped up its political messaging ahead of the polls. 

Senior party leader and AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal, G.A. Mir, said the party hopes to significantly improve its performance in the upcoming election.

He said the Congress aims to increase its vote share substantially compared with the previous election, when the party secured about 4.5 percent of the vote and failed to win a seat.

Mir expressed confidence that the Congress would secure a respectable number of seats in the next Assembly and could play a key role in government formation after the results.

Election schedule announced

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has scheduled the West Bengal Assembly elections in two phases.

Polling will take place on April 23 and April 29 across the state’s 294 constituencies.

The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, when results for West Bengal and several other states going to polls will be declared.