Image for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: The Hindu
The Left Front on Thursday (March 19, 2026) released a new list of 32 candidates for the West Bengal elections. This is the second list of Left Front candidates after 192 names were released on Monday (March 16, 2026).
The second list includes the nomination of Partha Pratim Biswas, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Jadavpur University, who was fielded from Tollygunge CPI(M).
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has fielded candidates in key constituencies across South Bengal, including Tollygunge, Ballygunge and Diamond Harbour.
For the politically important Nandigram seat, the CPI has fielded Shanti Giri, who will be pitted against the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, BJP’s Suvenda Adhikari and TMC’s Pavitra Kar.
‘Abhay’s’ mother
Amid speculations that the mother of the RG Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim (identified as Abhaya) will contest the upcoming West Bengal elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, CPI(M) State Secretary Mohammad Salim has urged her not to join any political party.
“We never asked the victim’s parents to be (with) the CPI(M). We only tried to stand by them… We had no benefit in helping the family, but Trinamool Congress and BJP have their own interests,” Mr Salim said on Thursday.
She may contest the elections from her home constituency in Panihati as a BJP candidate, Abhaya’s mother said on Thursday. The CPI(M) has helped the Trinamool Congress (TMC) destroy law and order in Bengal, it claimed at the time of its announcement.
The BJP has not yet officially announced its candidature.
“Can the BJP-RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) bring justice to the RG Kar (hospital) rape and murder victim when they themselves were linked to the Hathras rape case?” said Mr. Salim, questioning the BJP’s intention to offer a ticket to the victim’s mother. He claimed that the victim’s parents were speaking the version taught to them by the BJP.
The CPI(M) was the first to come out in support of the victim’s parents without knowing their identity, immediately after the victim died, the Left leader said. “We stood next to a helpless family. There was no TMC or BJP there,” he added. While the BJP may be fielding her as a candidate, the party leaders could not arrange a meeting of the victim’s parents with the Prime Minister or the Home Minister, he said.
“We have tried to help the victim and her parents get justice, irrespective of party colours,” said CPI(M) central committee member and Uttarpara candidate Minakshi Mukherjee.
“Did we force them to be (with) the CPI(M) when we stopped the hearse van carrying the victim? Which political party they want to be a part of is their personal matter,” Ms Mukherjee said, referring to an earlier protest during which she and other Left leaders stopped the hearse van and demanded proper investigation and justice, on August 9, 2024, on the hospital premises, shortly after the victim discovered on the hospital grounds.
Published – 19 March 2026 21:31 IST
