BJP declares name of candidates for by-polls to 4 Assembly seats in Bengal

The BJP on Monday announced the name of Kalyan Chaubey and three new faces for the four assembly seats in West Bengal where by-polls are slated to be held on July 10.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has already announced its candidates for the by-polls a few days back.

The BJP has fielded Kalyan Chaubey from Maniktala constituency in Kolkata, Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin (SC) in Nadia district and Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagda (SC) seat.

Both Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas belong to the Matua community which has a significant chunk of voters in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagda, both seats reserved for SCs.

Chaubey had been defeated by TMC leader Sadhan Pandey in the 2021 assembly polls but the seat fell vacant after Pandey's death.

The TMC has announced Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat-Dakshin, Supti Pandey from Maniktala and Madhuparna Thakur from Bagdah as their candidates.

Kalyani had won on a BJP ticket from Raiganj in the 2021 assembly polls and later switched to the TMC as the party's candidate for Lok Sabha polls but lost in the election. Adhikari had joined the TMC earlier this year and lost in the Lok Sabha elections from Ranaghat.

BJP turncoat Biswajit Das had joined TMC and contested on a TMC ticket from Bongaon Lok Sabha seat but was defeated. In the 2021 assembly polls, he had been elected on a BJP ticket from Bagda but as he resigned from the seat before filing nominations for contesting Lok Sabha polls, the assembly by-polls were necessitated in the Bagda seat.

On June 10, the Election Commission of India announced that by-elections to fill vacancies in 13 assembly constituencies in seven states will be held on July 10 and the counting of the votes will take place on July 13.

The last date to file nominations is June 21 and candidates can withdraw their candidature till June 26.