BJP announces names of candidates for by-elections in 4 Assembly seats in Bengal

Kolkata: The BJP on Monday announced the names of its candidates for the four Assembly seats in Bengal where bypolls are slated to be held on July 10.

The BJP fielded Kalyan Chaubey from the Maniktala Constituency in Kolkata, Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin in Nadia district and Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagdah seat. Both Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas belong to the Matua community which has a significant chunk of voters in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah, both seats reserved for SCs. Apart from Chaubey, the BJP fielded three new faces.

Chaubey had been defeated by TMC leader Sadhan Pande in the 2021 Assembly polls but the seat fell vacant after Pande’s death.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had already announced its candidates for the by-polls a few days back.

The ruling party in Bengal fielded Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat-Dakshin, Supti Pande from Maniktala and Madhuparna Thakur from Bagdah as their candidates.

Kalyani had won on a BJP ticket from Raiganj in the 2021 Assembly polls and later switched to the TMC as the party’s candidate for Lok Sabha polls but lost in

the election. Mukut Mani Adhikari had joined the TMC earlier this year and lost in the Lok Sabha elections from Ranaghat. The last date to file nominations is June 21 and candidates can withdraw their candidature till June 26.