‘No seats vacant’: Congress to challenge Mamata as ‘big leader’ to contest all 294 seats in Bengal polls
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday said it will contest all 294 seats in the state and will not shy away from fielding a candidate against the chief minister, signaling an aggressive push for the West Bengal Assembly elections. Mamata Banerjee In Bhawanipur.The announcement came after a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in Delhi, where senior leaders held detailed discussions on the selection of candidates.AICC West Bengal chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the party intends to field candidates in every constituency, emphasizing full electoral competition.“Whoever contests from Bhawanipur will be an important leader for us. We are fielding candidates for all 294 seats and we will not leave any seat vacant,” Mir told news agency PTI.The high-level meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Haq, former party president Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal and several leaders from West Bengal.Senior personalities such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CEC members Ambika Soni, Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Khurshid, TS Singhdeo, KJ George, PL Punia and Amee Yajnik were also present.The move signals Congress’ interest in reasserting itself in a state that has struggled in recent years, even as the election battle is expected to be dominated by Democrats Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.West Bengal will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
