Bengal polls: Mamata to announce first list of candidates today

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee is going to release the first list of candidates on Monday.

It was learnt that she is slated to meet Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly constituency in the morning. She will sit with the member of TMC's election committee at about 12.30 pm. She is also likely to announce the list at around 5 pm.

Names of many persons from the cultural world and other professions are likely to appear on the list, it was learnt.

The notification for the first phase of the election will be announced on March 2. The date of submitting the nomination is March 9 while the scrutiny will be done on March 10. The date of withdrawal of the candidature is March 12.

The first phase of election will be held in 30 Assembly constituencies spreading over five districts, namely, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, East and West Midnapore. More than a dozen Trinamool Congress MLAs have crossed the floor and joined BJP. Rabiranjan Chattopdhyay and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeet Chakraborty have expressed their unwillingness to contest in the ensuing elections. It was learnt that several ministers and MLAs would not get tickets. Banerjee had conducted a survey secretly and those MLAs who were non-productive would be dropped.

The Assembly elections in Bengal will be held in 8 phases starting from March 27 and ending on April 29.