KOLKATA: Though the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to make any announcement on the hosting of by-elections in Bengal, countdown has started in Trinamool Congress (TMC) to select the candidates for six seats where the by-polls will be held.
According to sources, TMC would soon urge the ECI to conduct the by-poll. Some leaders apprehended that by citing Covid pandemic, ECI might deliberately defer the by-election to harass party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
The by-polls would be held in Bhowanipore, Khardah, Shantipur, Dinhata, Shamsergunj and Jangipur. The Bhowanipore Assembly seat fell vacant after state Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned after winning the seat with a handsome margin. Mamata Banerjee will contest the by-election.
Dinhata and Shantipur seats fell vacant after two BJP MPs, Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar who had been elected as MLAs from the seats refused to resign as MPs. TMC's Kajal Sinha, who was elected from Khardah Assembly seat, died before the announcement of the result.
By-election will be held in the constituency and it is likely that Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay will contest from the seat.
By-election will be held in Jangipur and Shamsergunj seats in Murshidabad where candidates, Pradip Nandi and Rezaul Haq died before the elections were held.
Trinamool Congress leaders said Mamata Banerjee took the oath on May 5 and the by-election should be held by November 5 when her six month term comes
to an end. While some leaders said if by-election was not held by then, she could resign for a day and then take the oath on the next day to become the Chief Minister. But that would be an embarrassment for her.
The others said she would have to win the by-election within six months. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay will also have to win the by-election to remain in the chair after November.