BJP announces candidates for Kolkata by-polls on 13 September

Kolkata: The BJP Monday announced it would field party leaders Samik Bhattacharya and Ritesh Tiwari from Basirhat South and Chowringhee assembly seats here for the 13 September by-elections. Bhattacharya, who is a general secretary in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state unit, and Tiwari, a secretary, will be filing their nominations Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_1681119” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded former Indian soccer captain Dipendu Biswas from Basirhat South and actress Nayana Bandopadhyay from Chowringhee, while the Communist Party of India-Marxist has Mrinal Chakraborty and Faiz Ahmed Khan in the fray from the respective seats. The Basirhat seat fell vacant after the death of CPI-M legislator Narayan Mukhopadhyay. The resignation of Trinamool legislator Sikha Mitra rendered the Chowringhee seat unoccupied. Sikha, wife of Congress leader Somen Mitra, left the Trinamool this year after being a party dissident for long. The votes will be counted 16 September. IANS