Name remaining candidates in Bengal, Congress urges Sonia

The West Bengal unit of the Congress Friday urged party president Sonia Gandhi to release the list of candidates for the remaining 24 parliamentary constituencies in the state immediately.

Omprakash Mishra, general secretary of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee and professor of International Relations at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in a letter, said workers were getting "increasingly restive" with the party not naming the remaining candidates.

He said the situation is "getting alarming" as the opposition has geared up its election machinery. He said the party has announced 18 of the 42 seats so far, leaving 24 seats unannounced, which was creating "huge confusion" and demoralising the cadres.

Mishra said the situation was turning grave with more than a fortnight having elapsed after announcement of the 18 names. He said the party unit has already launched the poll campaign in the Balurghat parliamentary constituency so the political vacuum does not benefit the opposition that includes the Trinamool Congress and the Left.