West Bengal polls: Left Front announces first batch of 192 candidates

New Delhi: The Left Front on Monday announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, which includes leaders such as outgoing Lok Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and CPI(M) central committee member Minakshi Mukherjee.Out of 192 seats, CPI(M) will contest 142 seats, Forward Bloc (21), RSP (13), CPI (14), RCPI (1) and MCP (1).Bhattacharya will contest from Jadavpur constituency in south Kolkata, while Mukherjee, the youth representative of the Left Front, will contest from Uttapara in Hooghly district.Mukherjee emerged from Nandigram in the 2021 elections, finishing third behind the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.The Left Front has also fielded Sabina Yasmin from Kaliganj.Yasmeen’s 6-year-old daughter Tamanna was killed in an improvised bomb blast at a victory rally during the counting of votes in June last year’s by-election, which was won by the TMC.Left Front president Biman Bose said candidates for the remaining seats will be finalized and announced in three to four days.“This fight is against the neo-fascist forces in the country, the authoritarian activities in our country and the suffering that the people face as a result,” Bose said at a press conference announcing the 192 candidates.“We will also work to revive left politics and strengthen the left in the state,” he added.Bose said 28 constituencies have fielded women candidates and more women candidates will be appointed in the remaining seats.Bose said the CPI(ML) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) will field candidates as prospective candidates, adding that apart from this, some independents and important figures will also be on the Left Front’s list.The ISF contested the 2021 assembly elections under a seat-sharing arrangement with the Left Front and won one seat – Bhangar in South 24 Parganas. PTIThe upcoming elections are seen as a battle for survival for the CPI(M)-led West Bengal Front, which ruled the state uninterrupted for 34 years until 2011 but failed to win a single seat in the 2021 assembly elections.The state assembly polls will be held from April 23 to 29 and counting of votes will take place on May 4.