Trinamool Names Candidates For Nandigram, Rejinagar Bypolls

The All India Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced Sanchita Pradhan (Dey) as its candidate for Nandigram and Rabiul Alam Chowdhury for Rejinagar in the upcoming by-elections to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

The by-elections in the two West Bengal Assembly constituencies are scheduled to take place on October 6.

The party made the announcement in a post on X, saying the candidates were being announced under the guidance and inspiration of its chairperson and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"All India Trinamool Congress, under the guidance and inspiration of our Hon'ble Chairperson Smt @MamataOfficial, is pleased to announce the candidates for the upcoming Nandigram & Rejinagar by-elections. We wish Smt Sanchita Pradhan (Dey) and Shri Rabiul Alam Chowdhury the very best for this journey. May they carry forward the hopes and aspirations of the people with strength and determination," the party said in the post.

From Congress, Mohd. Abdullahil Kafi will contest from Rejinagar Assembly constituency, while Milan Pradhan has been named the candidate from Nandigram.

The CPI(M) has fielded Advocate Sayeed Asad Ali from the Rejinagar Assembly constituency, while the CPI has nominated Shanti Gopal Giri from Nandigram.

The Nandigram bypoll was necessitated after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari gave up the seat and chose to retain Bhabanipur, where he defeated TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.

The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir, who had also secured victory from Nowda.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the election schedule for vacant Assembly constituencies across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal, and one Parliamentary constituency in Assam, with voting scheduled to take place on October 6 and counting of votes on October 9.

In West Bengal, bypolls were necessitated in Rejinagar and Nandigram following the resignations of Humayun Kabir and Suvendu Adhikari, respectively, while in Assam, the Nagaon Parliamentary Constituency fell vacant following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar on Thursday criticised the state government over the alleged lack of development in the Nandigram Assembly seat, saying that the Chief Minister should have retained the constituency as no work has been done there so far.

Sarkar told ANI, "The Chief Minister should have retained the Nandigram seat; he should not have given it up. No work has been done in Nandigram so far."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)