Kolkata, March 19 The Left Front announced its second list of 32 candidates for the West Bengal assembly elections on Thursday, with CPI's Shanti Giri from Nandigram and CPI(M)'s Dr Pulin Behari Baskey from Nayagram among the key nominees.
During the announcement of the candidate list, CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim described the current judicial review of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as an "initial victory," and asserted that the Left leaders will not rest until every genuine voter is on the list before the two-phase assembly polls.
The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
CPI(M) leaders – Afrin Begam from Ballygunje, Monirul Islam from Metiabruz and Himangshu Giri from Khejuri, and Samarendra Nath Naiya from Nandigram – are among the 32 candidates.
The Left Front had announced its first list of 192 nominees on Monday.
Salim accused the Mamata Banerjee government of failing to ensure proper inclusion of names in the electoral rolls.
He alleged that the Election Commission put lakhs of voters in the "logical discrepancy" category without any "sufficient ground".
According to official data released on February 28, 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed in the "under adjudication" category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks.
"We have an initial victory when CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal and other senior administrative and police officials attended a SIR review meeting at Calcutta High Court on the direction of the Supreme Court, and the pace of disposal of pending voter-related claims and objections was discussed," he said.
As part of the court-monitored scrutiny process, nearly 705 judicial officers have been deployed to adjudicate over 60 lakh cases.
Speaking on transfers of bureaucrats and senior police officers, the CPI(M) politburo member said, "The EC thought democracy in the state would be restored through transfers of officers, but democracy can only be restored by people. We have faith in the people of West Bengal," he said.
The Election Commission has removed West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, Director General of Police Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata CP Supratim Sarkar, among others, in an unprecedented administrative shake-up in the state ahead of the high-stakes assembly polls.