West Bengal: Congress announces candidate for Kaliganj bypoll

Kolkata, May 30 The Congress on Friday announced Kabil Uddin Shaikh as its party candidate for the June 19 bypoll to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency in West Bengal's Nadia district.

While the CPI-M-led Left Front is yet to announce the name of any candidate so far, it is not certain whether the Congress-Left Front seat sharing arrangement that started since the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections would continue or there will be a four-cornered contest involving the ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP, the Congress, and the Left Front.

Like the Left Front, the BJP also has yet to announce the name of the party candidate for the bypoll.

The Trinamool Congress, on Tuesday, announced Alifa Ahmed as its candidate for the Kaliganj bypoll. Alifa Ahmed, 38, is the daughter of sitting legislator, Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose sudden demise in February this year necessitated the bypoll.

Kaliganj is among the five Assembly constituencies in four states that will be going for bypolls on June 19, with the other four being the Kadi and Visavdar seats in Gujarat, Ludhiana West in Punjab, and Nilambur in Kerala.

The last date for making nominations is June 2, and the date for the scrutiny of nominations is June 3. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is June 5. The counting will be on June 23.

Earlier this week, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, announced that 20 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) will be deployed for the Kaliganj bypolls, and these will be in place by next week.

The final electoral list for Kaliganj was published on May 9 and featured a decrease of over 2,000 voters from the electorate in the 2021 Assembly polls. The final list was announced following a special summary revision by the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer.

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