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KOLKATA: Four prominent CPM functionaries who became faces of protests after the 2024 rape-murder of a resident doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital will contest the West Bengal assembly elections in April. Outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, student activist Dipsita Dhar, youth functionary Kalatan Dasgupta and rising Left face Minakshi Mukherjee have been fielded from Jadavpur, North Dum Dum, Panihati and Uttarpara, respectively. Former Kolkata mayor Bhattacharya will contest from Jadavpur — a south Kolkata neighbourhood that emerged as a nerve centre of the “Reclaim the Night” protests after the killing of the 31-year-old doctor.
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“Bengal was once a safe haven for women, but it was destroyed in the past few years of the Mamata Banerjee’s govt,” Bhattacharya said. “I expect Jadavpur will give us resounding support, rejecting divisive politics and communal lines that are the strength of both BJP and Trinamool.”
Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced the alliance’s first list of 192 candidates on Monday. Another 50 seats were allotted to allies. Candidates for the remaining constituencies will be finalised in three to four days, Bose said. Among allies, Rajib Kar of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) will contest from Chhatna, a constituency in Bankura district, while Samar Hazra of Marxist Forward Bloc will contest from Jamalpur in Purba Bardhaman district. Dhar is contesting from North Dum Dum, a densely populated suburb of Kolkata. Mukherjee, a recognisable young face of the Left, will contest from Uttarpara, an industrial town in Hooghly district.
