Ties break, 4-way election on all 6 seats in Bengal bypoll

With Congress announcing its candidates for all 6 seats of the upcoming West Bengal bypolls, it is confirmed that the coalition between Left and Congress is broken in the state. Speculation became ripe when both parties failed to make any joint announcement post the voting dates announcement.

Earlier, the Left Front had announced 5 candidates. Political experts are linking the breakup with the appointment of new Congress state chief Subhankar Sarkar and removing popular politician Adhir Ranjan from the post. Left and Congress had fought elections in alliance in previous polls since 2021.

The Congress nominees for the bypolls are Paresh Nath Sarkar for Naihati and Habib Reza Chowdhury for Haroa in North 24 Parganas, Bikash Champro Mary for Madarihat in Alipurduar, Shyamal Kumar Ghosh for Medinipur in West Medinipur, Tusharkanti Sannigrahi for Taldangra in Bankura, and Harihar Roy Singha for Sitai in Cooch Behar district.

Left had announced candidates for five seats on Monday, including one for the CPI(ML). The Left Front is likely to support the Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate in the Haroa seat. The ruling TMC and the BJP had earlier announced candidates for all six assembly segments.