West Bengal by-polls: BJP releases list of star campaigners

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released a list of star campaigners for the by-polls to four Assembly seats in West Bengal.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released a list of star campaigners for the by-polls to four Assembly seats in West Bengal. BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh in a letter to the Election Commission named 20 leaders on the list including Sukanta Majumdar, Dilip Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari, Smriti Irani, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Giriraj Singh, and Locket Chatterjee.

The by-polls in four Assembly constituencies are to be held on October 30 in West Bengal. With the BJP making inroads in West Bengal, it is probably the first time that the national executive has so many members from the state. BJP hopes to consolidate its gains in the state and build on the seats it won in recent elections.

Those in the national executive from the state include some leaders who joined the BJP from Trinamool Congress ahead of assembly polls - Dinesh Trivedi and Bharati Ghosh. Swapan Dasgupta, actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, Anirban Ganguly, Mukt Mani Adhikari, Jayanta Roy, Rajib Banerjee, Ashok Lahiri, Debashree Chowdhury, Rupa Ganguli and Mafuza Khatun are also on the list.

BJP sources said the party has given a signal to the West Bengal leaders that the party has its focus on the state despite losing the assembly polls earlier this year. "This is probably the first time that so many people from West Bengal have been accommodated in the committee. It is a clear message to the state leaders that the party has its focus on Bengal," a party leader said

The Election Commission of India, earlier on September 28, announced by-polls for three parliamentary and 30 assembly seats across 15 states and Union territories (UTs) in the country. The ECI announced by-elections on assembly constituencies including --Badvel (SC) in Andhra Pradesh; Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur and Mariani, Thowra in Assam; Kusheshwar Asthan (SC) and Tarapur in Bihar; Ellenabad in Haryana; Fatehpur, Arki, and Jubbal- Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh; Sindgi and Hangal in Karnataka; Prithvipur, Raigaon (SC) and Jobat (ST) in Madhya Pradesh; Deglur (SC) in Maharashtra; Mawryngkneng (ST), Mawphlang (ST), and Rajabala in Meghalaya; Tuirial (ST) in Mizoram; Shamtorr-Chessore (ST) in Nagaland; Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad (ST) in Rajasthan; Huzurabad in Telangana; and Dinhata, Santipur, Khardaha and Gosaba(SC) in West Bengal.

The last date for filing nominations is October 8. The ECI has scheduled the examination of nominations on October 11, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is set as October 13. (ANI)

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