BJP names candidates for Bengal bypolls, football federation chief Chaubey in fray
Bypolls in Raiganj, Ranaghat-Dakshin and Bagdah constituencies were necessitated by the resignation of MLAs who won the 2021 Assembly polls on BJP tickets but later joined the Trinamool
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on June 17 announced candidates for bypolls on four Assembly seats in West Bengal scheduled next month.
The party has fielded the president of All India Football Federation Kalyan Chaubey from the Maniktala constituency in Kolkata, Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin (SC) in Nadia and Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagda (SC).
Mr. Chaubey, a former footballer, had contested and lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election against Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar. Mr. Manoj Kumar and Mr. Binay Kumar belong to the Matua community that has a significant chunk of voters in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagda, both seats reserved for SC candidates.
The Trinamool Congress has announced candidates for the bypolls which include Supti Pandey from Maniktala. Ms. Pandey is the wife of the late Sadhan Pandey, a former Minister who had represented the constituency for a long time.
The other Trinamool canddidates are Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat-Dakshin and Madhuparna Thakur from Bagdah. Both Mr. Kalyani and Mr. Adhikari had won the 2021 Assembly polls on BJP tickets but later switched to the Trinamool. They contested the Lok Sabha election and lost to BJP candidates from Raiganj and Ranaghat respectively.
The bypolls on the three seats of Raiganj, Ranaghat-Dakshin and Bagdah were necessitated by the resignation of MLAs who won the 2021 Assembly election on BJP tickets but later joined the Trinamool. The Maniktala seat became vacant after the death of Pandey in 2022.
The bypolls will be a show of strength for the Trinamool and the BJP after the Lok Sabha election in which the Trinamool won 29 of the 42 seats and the BJP was reduced to 12.
Elections to the four Assembly seats in West Bengal and 13 seats across the country across different states will be held on July 10.
- Telegram
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