Cooch Behar: The Trinamool Congress has announced its candidates for all nine Assembly Constituencies in Cooch Behar, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to declare nominees for three seats in the district.
The BJP released its second list of candidates on Thursday, naming former Union Minister of State Nisith Pramanik as its candidate from the Mathabhanga Assembly Constituency. The party has also nominated Dadhiram Roy from Mekhliganj.
Pramanik’s candidature from Mathabhanga has sparked significant political interest in the region.
The Trinamool Congress has fielded Sabal Barman, a professor at Panchanan Barma University, making the Constituency a key battleground in the upcoming elections.
Arriving in Mathabhanga on Thursday night, Pramanik expressed gratitude to his party for nominating him.
“I am deeply grateful to the party for giving me this opportunity,” he said. Highlighting the party’s groundwork, he added that the BJP had organised the highest number of ‘Parivartan Yatra’ programmes in the Constituency and praised local workers for their efforts. “We will reach out to the people and with their blessings, we are confident of securing victory,” he asserted.
Responding to questions about the denial of a ticket to the sitting MLA, Pramanik stated that the party takes such decisions after careful consideration. “The party always works keeping everyone’s welfare in mind,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP is yet to announce candidates for three Constituencies in the district—Cooch Behar South Assembly Constituency, Natabari Assembly Constituency, and Sitai Assembly Constituency. Pramanik noted that candidate selection is handled at the national level and assured that names for the remaining seats would be declared soon.
Reacting to Pramanik’s candidature, Abhijit De Bhowmik, the Trinamool Congress district president of Cooch Behar, claimed that the BJP leader avoided contesting from Dinhata out of fear. He expressed confidence that the TMC candidate would secure a decisive victory in Mathabhanga.
Echoing similar sentiments, Udayan Guha, the Trinamool Congress candidate from the Dinhata Assembly constituency, said Pramanik’s choice of constituency was an internal party matter.
However, he added that had Pramanik contested from Dinhata, he would have faced tough questions from voters regarding his absence after previous electoral victories.