The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India have declared their candidates for the upcoming by-elections in the Nandigram and Rejinagar constituencies of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
The CPI(M) has nominated Advocate Sayeed Asad Ali for the Rejinagar Assembly seat, while the CPI has selected Shanti Gopal Giri to contest the Nandigram seat.
The by-election in Nandigram became necessary after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated the seat and chose to retain the Bhabanipur constituency, where he defeated Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
The Rejinagar seat was vacated following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir, who had also won from the Nowda constituency.
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for elections to vacant Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal, and one Parliamentary constituency in Assam on Tuesday. Voting is set for October 6, with vote counting on October 9.
In West Bengal, by-elections are being held in Rejinagar and Nandigram due to the resignations of Humayun Kabir and Suvendu Adhikari, respectively. In Assam, the Nagaon Parliamentary Constituency became vacant following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar criticized the state government on Thursday for the perceived lack of development in the Nandigram Assembly seat. He stated, “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.”