KOLKATA: The CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal on Saturday announced its candidates for bypolls in two high-voltage Assembly constituencies, Nandigram in East Midnapore and Rejinagar in Murshidabad.
Bypolls in the two seats will be held on October 6, while counting will take place on October 9.
Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Trinamool Congress in the state have not yet announced their candidates for the two seats.
Santigopal Giri will contest from Nandigram on a CPI ticket. Nandigram is the home turf of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won the seat in the 2026 Assembly elections.
The CPI(M) has fielded lawyer Syed Asad Ali from Rejinagar, though the RSP, another Left Front partner, has been demanding the seat for its candidate for some time.
The Congress has already announced its candidates for both constituencies.
The Election Commission of India’s decision to hold bypolls in the two high-voltage constituencies has brought into sharper focus the bitter tussle between the two factions of the Trinamool Congress — the camp led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the rebel group led by Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly — over the party’s identity, name and election symbol.
The two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress are set to fight each other for the first time in the bypolls, following the party’s crushing defeat to the BJP in the Assembly elections.
Both factions could face the prospect of contesting the bypolls without the party’s official “Flowers and Grass” symbol.
The full bench of the Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, met representatives of both factions in Delhi on Saturday to decide which camp represents the real Trinamool Congress.
The poll panel, which has the sole authority to decide ownership of a party’s name, symbol and assets in case of a split, held back-to-back meetings with representatives of both factions but has yet to issue any statement.
Both factions have staked claim to the party organisation and its assets, including bank accounts, properties and the election symbol.
The counting for both Nandigram and Rejinagar will take place on October 9, just a couple of months before eight municipal bodies, including Kolkata and Howrah, are scheduled to go to polls in November-December.
The Nandigram seat fell vacant after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly elections, retained Bhabanipur and resigned from Nandigram. Bhabanipur is the home turf of former chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Humayun Kabir, leader of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, won both Rejinagar and Nawda seats in Murshidabad district in the Assembly polls. He retained Nawda but resigned from Rejinagar, necessitating the bypoll.
The Election Commission’s decision to hold bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar has raised questions over which faction of the Trinamool Congress will get the party’s original symbol, which it has used since its formation in 1998.
The last date for filing nominations in the two seats is September 16, while scrutiny will take place on September 17. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is September 19, according to the Commission’s notification.
The timing is significant for both Trinamool Congress factions, which have been facing an unprecedented internal crisis following their humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls.
The rebel group led by Ritabrata has claimed that it commands the support of more than 60 of the 80 MLAs who won the Assembly elections.
The Mamata Banerjee camp, meanwhile, has submitted details of its National Working Committee to the Commission and maintains that it remains the legitimate leadership of the All India Trinamool Congress.
It remains unclear which faction will get the party symbol to contest the bypolls in the two seats.
Akhrujjaman, chief whip in the Assembly and a member of the Ritabrata faction, had told the media on September 9 that they would field candidates in the two constituencies with the “Flowers and Grass” symbol. He said the candidates’ names would be announced on September 15.
The faction has said its candidates will contest the bypolls as independents if the Commission does not allot them the Trinamool Congress symbol.