West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee filed her nomination for the by-polls to the Bhabanipur seat on Friday.
BJP announced Priyanka Tibriwal's candidature from Bhabanipur earlier in the day through a notification undersigned by the party's general secretary Arun Singh.
The party is also fielding Milan Ghosh in the Samserganj constituency against Trinamool Congress Party's (TMC) Amirul Islam and has put up Sujit Das for the Jangipur constituency against TMC's Jakir Hossain.
It is crucial for Mamata Banerjee, who became chief minister of the state for the third time after TMC's Assembly election victory, to win the Bhabanipur by-poll to retain her position. She had lost in Nandigram to her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP.
According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the by-election in Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency in West Bengal will be held on September 30.
The Election Commission also informed that by-polls will also be held in Samserganj and Jangipur of West Bengal and Pipli constituency of Odisha on the same date. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 3.
The Bhabanipur assembly seat was vacated by West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for Mamata Banerjee to contest.
Earlier on Monday, sources said the Indian National Congress is unlikely to field a candidate against the chief minister.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. The BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.
( With inputs from ANI )
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