The Congress party is planning to reveal candidates for the upcoming elections in West Bengal in three stages, following the guidance of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC). The initial list, expected to be disclosed soon, may contain approximately 100 names, including prominent party members. State Congress president in West Bengal, Suvankar Sarkar, has departed for New Delhi to finalize the first list after consultations with the All India Congress Committee.
The first list is likely to feature individuals like Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the former state Congress president in West Bengal and a five-time Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district. Additionally, the list of 100 candidates may include Mausam Benazir Noor, a former Congress Lok Sabha member and ex-Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member who recently rejoined Congress after resigning from Trinamool Congress.
For this election, the Congress has decided to break its electoral and seat-sharing alliance with the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which had been in place since the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. The party has confirmed that it will contest independently across all 294 Assembly constituencies in the state. Furthermore, the Congress has ruled out any electoral collaboration with the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.
The party leadership is placing more trust in the recommendations of the WBPCC regarding election-related matters, including candidate selection. The decision to contest independently was made based on inputs from the WBPCC, which were formulated after discussions with various district committees of the party in West Bengal.
