Lok Sabha Elections: The Trinamool Congress released a list of candidates for four Lok Sabha seats in Assam for the upcoming polls on Thursday. TMC's list of candidates includes Gauri Shankar Sarania from Kokrajhar (ST), Abdul Kalam Azad from Barpeta seat, Ghana Kanta Chutia from Lakhimpur seat, and Radhashyam Biswas from Silchar (SC).
TMC is a part of the United Opposition Forum Assam (UOFA), formed in the state with 16 parties in line with the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the northeastern state, the Congress on Tuesday announced candidates for 12 seats. The grand old party offered Dibrugarh seat to alliance partner Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), while no decision has been taken yet on the Lakhimpur constituency.
On Wednesday, the CPI(M) announced that its MLA Manoranjan Talukdar will contest from the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat, for which the Congress had already declared its candidate.
Another UOFA member, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), also announced candidates for three seats in Assam. The CPI too said that it was considering contesting from a few seats in the state.
As far as the ruling NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party named 11 candidates, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) nominated two and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) declared one candidate.
The BJP has nine MPs in the current Lok Sabha from the state, while its allies AGP and UPPL have no representation. The Congress holds three seats and the AIUDF one, while another is an Independent candidate.
Earlier, the TMC unveiled its list of 42 candidates in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Among the notable selections, TMC stalwart Abhishek Banerjee has been nominated to run for the Diamond Harbour constituency, while Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Bahrampur seat.
The candidate list was announced during a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata, where CM Mamata Banerjee reiterated the party's resolve to independently contest all 42 parliamentary seats in the state.