Congress and All India Secular Front (AISF) are set to unveil their candidate lists for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections on Monday. The Congress party is expected to reveal its initial list of 100 candidates for the 294-seat Assembly, while AISF, in collaboration with the CPI(M)-led Left Front, will announce its candidates for all 33 seats they are contesting.
This election marks a shift for Congress as it has opted to contest independently for all 294 Assembly constituencies, breaking away from its previous seat-sharing agreement with the Left Front that dated back to the 2016 elections. Notably, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former state Congress president and five-time Lok Sabha member, is likely to feature in the first list, running from one of the 22 Assembly constituencies in Murshidabad district.
Additionally, Mausam Benazir Noor, a former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member who recently rejoined Congress, is expected to be named in the candidate list. The focus of the initial list will be on constituencies in districts like Malda, Mushidabad, North Dinajpur, and Purulia, which have historically been strongholds for Congress.
Meanwhile, AISF’s list of candidates for the 33 Assembly constituencies reveals a strategic alliance with the Left Front, although there will be friendly contests in some areas, particularly with the All India Forward Bloc, a Left Front ally. In the previous 2021 elections, Nawsad Siddique emerged as the sole AISF representative in the Assembly, winning from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district.
