Kolkata: The Congress has fielded candidates in 284 out of 294 seats in West Bengal, nominating most of its senior leaders for the upcoming Assembly elections. Notably, after nearly two decades, the Grand Old Party is contesting almost all seats in the Bengal Assembly. The party has also fielded the highest number of Muslim candidates—63 in total—for the polls.
Senior leader and former state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has been nominated from his traditional seat of Baharampur. In Malda, Mausam Noor has been fielded from Malatipur to strengthen the party’s base in the region. Ranajit Mukherjee, an AICC member, will contest from the Bidhannagar Assembly constituency.
The party has also fielded a candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur.
Key candidates and their constituencies include Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Baharampur), Mausam Noor (Malatipur), Mohit Sengupta (Raiganj), Abdul Rezzak Molla (Jalangi), Ali Imran Ramz (Victor) (Chakulia), Rohan Mitra (Ballygunge), Pradeep Prasad (Bhabanipur—Mamata Banerjee’s constituency), Subrata Mukherjee (Uttarpara), Nepal Chandra Mahato (Baghmundi), Milton Rashid (Hansan), Mostak Alam (Harishchandrapur), Asif Mehboob (Chanchal), Saiyam Chowdhury (Mothabari), Murlidhar Ghosh (Amdanga), Ashok Bhattacharya (Raja) (Noapara), Amitabha Sarkar (Matigara–Naxalbari, SC), Masood Alam (English Bazar), Joydeb Ghosh (Khardaha), Amitabh Bhattacharya (Purbasthali Uttar), and Sapan Moitra (Dum Dum Uttar).
While a final gender-wise breakdown of the 284 candidates has not yet been officially released, initial reports highlight several prominent women candidates. Mausam Noor, a former MP, has been fielded from Malatipur. Susmita Biswas will contest from Dum Dum, while Illa Rani Roy has been nominated from Mekliganj (SC). Savitri Barman will contest from Sitalkuchi (SC), and Nabanita Tirkey has been fielded from the Phansidewa (ST) seat. Kalyani Chakraborty has been named as the candidate from Baranagar.
As no major political alliances have been formed in West Bengal, all key parties—from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Congress and CPI(M)—are contesting largely on their own, making the electoral battle highly competitive and closely watched. While CPI(M) is allied with other Left parties such as CPI(ML) and Forward Bloc, and AIMIM has tied up with the newly formed JUP, these alliances are not considered major electoral forces in the state.
