Kolkata, March 29 – The All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the party candidates for 284 of the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal on Sunday, which will go to the polls in two phases next month.
As expected, the party has nominated Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the former state Congress president in West Bengal and a five-time Lok Sabha member, from the Baharampur Assembly constituency in his native district of Murshidabad.
Mausam Benazir Noor, the former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member who had recently returned to Congress, has been nominated as the party candidate from the Malatipur Assembly constituency in her native district of Malda.
Ali Imran Ramz, also known as Victor, who was recently accused of domestic violence by his estranged wife, has been fielded from the Chakulia Assembly constituency in north Dinajpur.
Victor was a two-time legislator from Chakulia, first from 2011 to 2016 and then from 2016 to 2021. However, he was defeated in the 2021 Assembly elections.
He joined Congress before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and also became a party candidate in the Raiganj Lok Sabha elections. However, he lost.
Rohon Mitra, the son of the late state Congress president in West Bengal, Somendra Nath Mitra, has been nominated from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency in South Kolkata.
Congress and the Left Front have been contesting elections in West Bengal since the 2016 Assembly elections, with a seat-sharing agreement. This continued until the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In 2021, neither Congress nor the Left Front could send a single representative to the state Assembly.
However, this time, Congress decided to sever ties with the Left Front and instead contest independently from all 294 Assembly constituencies. On Sunday, they announced candidates for 284 Assembly constituencies.
At the time this report was filed, there was no indication from the Congress leadership on when the candidates for the remaining 10 Assembly constituencies would be announced.