Left Front Nominates Candidates for West Bengal Lok Sabha Seats

In West Bengal's Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, the Left Front on Friday nominated Nirapada Sardar, a former Sandeshkhali MLA, as the CPI(M) candidate. In Diamond Harbour, the party's Pratik Ur Rahaman will face TMC's Abhishek Banerjee.

LF chairman Biman Bose announced the front's nominations for three additional Lok Sabha seats, bringing the total to 28. He also released the front's second list of candidates.

The front also declared the candidacies of Debdoot Ghosh of the CPI(M) from Barrackpore, Tapan Ganguly of the CPI from Ghatal, and Prabir Ghosh of the Forward Bloc from Barasat.

The former MLA for CPI(M) Sardar was freed on bail granted by the Calcutta High Court after being detained by the state police on charges of organizing violent demonstrations in Sandeshkhali.

The Sandeshkhali assembly sector, which Sardar had won from in the 2011 state elections but lost from in 2016, is located in the North 24 Parganas district's Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency.

Protests in February in Sandeshkhali were sparked by claims of sexual atrocities and land grabs by thugs loyal to the governing Trinamool Congress.

Bose named student leader Rahaman as the CPI(M) candidate from Diamond Harbour in the South 24 Parganas district, where TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is running for reelection for a third term. This announcement came after the front meeting.

The LF is expected to challenge the Congress for 42 seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.

The front had previously disclosed the names of twenty-three candidates, among them was Murshidabad-based CPI(M) member and West Bengal state secretary Mohammad Salim.