KOLKATA: The Left Front on Thursday released its first list of 16 candidates for the upcoming general elections in West Bengal, roping in a central committee member and faces from the youth wing of the CPM.Announcing the names of candidates for 16 out of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, Left Chairman Biman Bose said the talks with Congress on seat-sharing arrangements will work. “This is just a seat sharing arrangement, not an alliance. There have been bilateral talks on the matter. Nothing can be said unless and until the talks take shape,” he said. Of the 16 candidates, 13 are from the CPM and the other three from CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc. As many as 14 new faces have been roped in for the upcoming fray.The CPM decided to field its central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty against veteran Saugata Roy, the sitting TMC MP. Chakrabarty was a single-term MP from 2004 to 2009 from south Kolkata’s Jadavpur.Saira Shah Halim, niece of iconic actor Naseeruddin Shah, has been fielded from Kolkata South constituency where the TMC re-nominated Mala Roy, the incumbent MP.Dipsita Dhar, a popular face of students’ movement in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, has been nominated for Serampore constituency, Hooghly, to take on TMC’s sitting MP Kalyan Banerjee. Besides, two advocates, who argued in favour of deprived candidates in the cash-for-job in schools scam case, have also been pulled in for the upcoming fray.SEAT MATRIXOf the 16 candidates for the upcoming fray, 13 are from the CPM and the other three from CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc. 14 fresh faces have been roped in. While, the CPM’s central committee member Sujan Chakraborty will take on TMC’s Saugata Roy, iconic actor Naseeruddin Shah’s niece Saira Shah Halim will contest against Mala Roy
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