CPI(M) fields Tanmoy Bhattacharya

: The CPI(M) on Wednesday announced the name of its senior leader Tanmoy Bhattacharya for the by-elections in the Baranagar seat while the Left Front ally Forward Block changed its candidate for the Barasat Lok Sabha seat after speculations went viral that the candidate may join BJP.

Tanmoy became MLA in 2016 after defeating TMC’s Chandrima Bhattacharya and BJP’s Archana Majumder from North Dum Dum. The party again fielded him from that seat in the 2021 Assembly polls but he lost to Chandrima this time.

Sources said that the party wanted to field Tanmoy for the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat but in the end, the decision was changed and Sujan Chakraborty was instead fielded in that seat. In Baranagar, the communist leader will battle TMC’s Sayantika Banerjee and BJP’s Sajal Ghosh.

Sayantika joined TMC in 2021 and was given a ticket from the Bankura Assembly constituency during the state elections that year. Although she was defeated by the BJP candidate, she kept herself occupied with the party’s organisational work.

Meanwhile, Forward Block has fielded Sanjib Chattopadhyay from the Barasat seat after word spread that its previous candidate Prabir Ghosh may join the BJP.