As West Bengal’s assembly elections get underway on March 27, 2021, speculation about the likely candidates for state elections are increasing. At 2:00 pm today, Mamata Banerjee, the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and West Bengal Chief Minister, declared the nominees for 291 assemblies in the forthcoming polls in the region.
Party chief Mamata Banerjee is all set to contest election from Nandigram, Her decision to run for Nandigram this time has heightened the stakes in the race, as the BJP is expected to nominate Suvendu Adhikari, a former close aide, as the party’s nominee. Mamata has chosen 50 female candidates and 42 Muslim candidates to run for the election. She declared today in a press conference that she would run for election from Nandigram. 79 SC candidates and 17 ST candidates were also issued tickets.
In the last few days, the TMC has conducted back-to-back consultations to expedite the contenders’ list. The party’s officials have agreed that individuals above the age of 80 would not be given tickets.
The chief minister also announced that 79 seats have been set aside for SC candidates, while 17 seats have been set aside for ST candidates. She also thanked Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Hemant Soren of Jharkhand, and Shiv Sena for their solidarity for the TMC in the forthcoming elections.
Bengal will hold elections in eight stages on March 27, April 1, 6, 10, 17, 22, 26, and 29, making it the state’s longest election ever. On May 2, the votes will be tallied.
The BJP is also set to declare the names of at least 60 contenders who will run in the first two rounds of voting on March 27 and April 1.
