Kolkata, March 18
Ahead of the high-stakes West Bengal assembly elections, former Indian cricketer Ashok Dinda expressed gratitude to the Bharatiya Janata Party for giving him another opportunity to contest the upcoming polls, while vowing to continue development in his constituency. Dinda is the BJP MLA from Moyna constituency in the Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal.
West Bengal is set to vote in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting for both phases scheduled for May 4, setting the stage for a tense contest between the opposition BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
On Tuesday, Dinda told ANI, "I don't care what TMC says, what people say is. I am grateful to the BJP for trusting me and giving me another opportunity in this election. I believe in my hard work. I thank the BJP leadership for bringing the rail line to Moyna, proposing a fire brigade."
Meanwhile, the BJP released its first list of 144 candidates for the state assembly polls.
West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari will contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021, and from Bhabanipur, the constituency currently represented by the TMC chief.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul will contest from Asansol Dakshin, actor-turned-politician Rudranil Ghosh is set to run from Shibpur, and BJP MLA Bankim Chandra Ghosh will contest from Chakdaha.
West Bengal has 294 assembly seats, and the BJP is expected to announce the remaining candidates soon.
The first phase, covering 152 Assembly constituencies, will begin with the issuance of the gazette notification on March 30, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said. The last date for filing nominations for this phase is April 6, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7.
Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until April 9. Polling for the first phase will be held on April 23.
For the second phase, which covers 142 Assembly constituencies, the gazette notification will be issued on April 2. The last date for filing nominations is April 9, and the scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 10. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until April 13. Voting for this phase is scheduled for April 29.
West Bengal has a total of 6,45,61,152 electors as per the Election Commission of India, including 6,44,52,609 general electors and 1,08,543 service voters. The state has 5,23,229 young electors aged 18-19 years.
The electoral rolls also list 4,16,089 electors marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD), 1,152 electors identified as third gender, and 3,78,979 senior citizens aged 85 and above.
- ANI
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