Left Front announces 5th list of candidates for Bengal, fields debutant Pratikur Rahman against Abhishek Banerjee
Kolkata/IBNS: The Left Front Friday released its fifth list of five Lok Sabha candidates for Bengal, including that of the much-discussed Diamond Harbour seat in South 24 Parganas.
While Pratikur Rahman, a new face in the electoral battle, will contest from Diamond Harbour, CPI(M) nominee Debdut Ghosh, also a new face, will seek his fortune from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas.
CPI(M)'s Nirapada Sardar will contest from Basirhat, also in N 24 Parganas, while CPI leader Tapan Ganguly will contest from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur and Prabir Guha from Barasat, also from N 24 Parganas.
The LF's latest list of candidates was announced a day after the Indian Secular Front (ISF) on Thursday released its list of some LS candidates, including that of Diamond Harbour.
ISF said it has nominated a new name for the Diamond Harbour seat for which Naushad Siddique (MLA) and ISF chairman had been clamouring for many months to contest from Diamond Harbour and defeat TMC candidate Abhishek Banerjee.
The ISF alleged that the CPI(M) was responsible for breaking up talks for having a seat adjustment for some LS seats in Bengal.
LF chairman Biman Bose denied this and said the ISF was demanding 7/8 LS seats, which was something not possible for the new party.
Meanwhile, the BJP is yet to announce its candidate from the high-profile Diamond Harbour seat.
[With UNI inputs]