KOLKATA: The Left Front-Congress alliance and Trinamool Congress have drawn battle lines ahead of a likely fierce electoral contest in three Assembly seats by announcing names of candidates. The alliance decided to field new faces while the ruling party preferred local leaders instead of opting for celebrity candidates.
The BJP, the main obstacle in Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s citadel, is likely to announce names of its candidates shortly. The by-elections in three Assembly seats — Kaliaganj, Karimpur and Kharagpur (Sadar) — will be significant ahead of the Assembly elections 2021 because the state’s three main political formations will get an opportunity to test their political heft on the ground after the Lok Sabha polls, in which the BJP emerged as the ruling party’s main opponent.
If the voting pattern seen in the Lok Sabha polls continue, BJP may win Kaliaganj and Kharagpur (Sadar) seats leaving Karimpur for the Trinamool. Out of the three, BJP had only won the Kharagpur (Sadar) seat in 2016 Assembly elections.
The CPM is fielding Golam Rabbi, a lawyer, in Karimpur. Congress selected Dhitasree Roy and Chittaranjan Mondal as their candidates in Kaliaganj and Kharagpur (Sadar) . Dhitasree is former MLA Pramatha Nath Roy’ daughter.
Election strategist selects candidates
The TMC has decided to field Pradip Sarkar in Kharagpur (Sadar), Bimalendu Singha Roy in Karimpur and Tapan Deb Singh in Kaliaganj. TMC sources said election strategist Prashant Kishor and team played the main role in selecting candidates.