Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
THE Congress and the CPM on Tuesday announced their candidates for the by-election to Howrah parliamentary constituency that fell vacant following the death of Trinamool Congress MP Ambica Banerjee. The nominations have paved the way for a three-cornered contest with the Trinamool having already announced the candidature of former popular footballer Prasun Banerjee.
The Congress has nominated veteran party leader and an advocate by profession,Sanatan Mukherjee,to contest from the seat where polling will be held on June 2. The CPM,on the other hand,has nominated Sridip Bhattacharya.
We are hopeful that we will win the seat, said state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya and added that Sanatan Mukherjee was a very good candidate with a clean image.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when the Congress and Trinamool had an electoral alliance,Ambica Banerjee won the seat with a margin of about 37,000 votes. While Banerjee got 4,77,499 votes,his nearest rival CPMs Swadesh Chakrabarty polled 4,40,057 votes. The third position went to BJPs Polly Mukherjee who got about 37,000 votes.
Though the Congress hopes to fare well in the elections,political observers feel that the snapping of alliance will go in favour of the CPM as the ruling party is already on the backfoot on issues like the Saradha chit fund scam and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
Though the ruling party is in a shambles,we believe the CPM will benefit from the trinagular contest because of a division of non-CPM votes. But we cant do anything. An electoral tie-up with the Trinamool is impossible in the present situation, said one Congress leader.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
