Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced the list of candidates for 291 Assembly seats for the upcoming elections in the state.
Mamata Banerjee will contest from Nandigram only and she will not fight from Bhowanipore. TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee will contest from Bhowanipore instead of Didi. Mamata Banerjee also announced that former cricketer Manoj Tiwari will contest from Shibpur.
TMC has decided to field 50 women candidates in the upcoming election. 27 new faces have been given the opportunity to contest elections. TMC has also given the opportunity to 42 Muslim candidates.
ALSO READ | West Bengal Polls: Mithun Chakraborty To Join BJP During PM Narendra Modi’s Kolkata Rally
Debashish Kumar will contest the West Bengal Election from Rashbehari. Film director Raj Chakraborty has been fielded from Barrackpore. TMC turncoat Sovan Chatterjee's estranged wife Ratna Chatterjee has been fielded from Behala east seat. Atin Ghosh will fight the elections from Belgachia.
Former footballer Videsh Bosh to contest from Uluberia. Actress Sayani Ghosh will be contesting the election from Asansol (south) and actor Sohan Chakraborty has also got a ticket to contest the upcoming Bengal polls.
- Vivek Gupta from Jorasanko
- Actress Lovely Moitra-Sonarpur (South)
- Actress Kaushani Mukherjee from Krishna Nagar (North)
- Actress Soham - Chandrapur
- Actress Sayani Ghosh from Asansol (South)
- Santhali actress Birbaha Hansda from Jhargram
Mamata Banerjee also said that many professors and doctors have also got tickets. The chief minister further said that 79 seats have been reserved for SC candidates, while 17 seats for those who belong to the ST community. She said that on 3 seats of north Bengal TMC will not put their candidates and it will be contested by their allies.
She also thanked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and Shiv Sena for extending their support to TMC in the upcoming elections.
The TMC has held back-to-back meetings in the last few days to finalise the contenders' list. The party leaders have decided not to give tickets to people above the age of 80. Elections in Bengal will be held in eight phases on March 27, April 1, 6, 10, 17, 22, 26, and 29, making it the longest ever polls in the state. The votes will be counted on May 2.