Biman Bose names 13 more candidates in Left Front list

Kolkata: Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced the names of 13 other candidates on Tuesday afternoon. Veteran CPI(M) leader Amiya Patra will contest from the Bankura Lok Sabha seat.

However, it has not fielded any candidate in four seats from where Congress nominees were elected in 2014. These seats are Jangipur, Baharampur, Malda North and Malda south. Earlier, the Front had published a list of 25 candidates.

Out of the 38 candidates announced so far, there are only seven women candidates. They are Mili Oraon (Alipurduar ST), Rama Biswas (Ranaghat SC), Gargi Chatterjee (Barrackpore), Nandini Mukherjee (Kolkata South), Deblina Hembram (Jhargram ST), Maksuda Khatun (Uluberia) and Kaninika Bose (Kolkata North). After announcing the list, Biman Bose held Congress responsible for the failure to ink an alliance. "We tried to form an alliance with Congress to protest against BJP and Trinamool Congress. We have not fielded any candidate in four seats which had been won by Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls," said Bose.

Meanwhile, reacting sharply to the same, PCC president Somen Mitra said: "We wanted Raigunj and Murshidabad as both are our strongholds. CPI(M) did not honour our proposal. We decided not to agree on humiliating terms. There was no discussion between the Left Front and Congress to prepare the list."

Deblina Hembram will contest from the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat while Tapan Ganguly of CPI will contest from the Ghatal seat. Saman pathak will contest from the Darjeeling seat. Veteran CPI(M) leader Ramchandra Dom has been fielded from the Bolpur (SC) seat. Shakti Mohan Malik of CPI(M) will contest from the Arambagh (SC) seat. Sunil Khan of CPI(M) has been fielded for the Bishnupur (SC) seat. Gouranga Chatterjee of CPI(M) will contest from the Asansol seat, whereas CPI(M) leader Tirthankar Roy will contest from the Sreerampur seat.

Of the 38 seats announced so far, CPI(M) will contest from 29 seats, while RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI will contest from three seats each.

It may be mentioned that shortly after Congress declared that there would be no alliance with the Left Front, veteran politician and Trinamool Congress candidate from Bankura Subrata Mukherjee had said that the failure to ink the alliance would benefit Trinamool in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.