BJP to announce candidates for Bengal bypolls

The BJP will soon announce candidates for the September 30 West Bengal bypolls to three assembly constituencies -- Bhabanipur, and Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad. The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to meet on Tuesday to finalise names to be approved by the central leadership.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has announced Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as its candidate from Bhabanipur, the seat she represented earlier. In 2020 she fought from Nandigram against turncoat Suvendu Adhikari and lost.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh told IANS that the party's state election commission will meet to find suitable candidates for the bypoll-bound assembly constituencies.

"Party has started the process of selection of candidates. The West Bengal BJP election committee will be meeting to discuss and finalise likely candidates. The names finalized by the election committee will be sent to the central leadership for approval and announcement.


Ghosh announced that Banerjee will face another defeat in Bhabanipur just like Nandigram. "We the going to fight the bypolls with full strength and will win all the three assembly seats. Mamatadi will face another defeat in Bhabanipur," Ghosh said.

West Bengal BJP co-inchagre Amit Malviya has said, "Staring at an imminent defeat, Mamata Banerjee abandoned Bhabanipur and fled to Nandigram earlier, only to lose to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari. How does she hope to win from Bhabanipur now? She will meet the same fate as Nandigram in this bypoll. It is a contest BJP will enter to win."

The counting of votes will be done on October 3.


Ghosh, meanwhile, has said that the party is thinking of moving the court on the Election Commission's decision to hold bypolls. "We are taking the opinion of the lawyers and if need be we will move the court," Ghosh said on Monday.

The poll panel on Saturday announced the date for the bypolls. The bye-election in Bhabanipur from where the chief minister is contesting triggered controversy because the commission, in its notification, mentioned that the bye-elections in the constituency was being taken as a special case on the request of the Government of West Bengal.

The commission deferred the polls of 31 other assembly constituencies across the country that are lying vacant because of the pandemic situation - IANS