Kolkata: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday approved the candidatures of Mohd Abdullahil Kafi for Rejinagar assembly constituency in Murshidabad and Milan Pradhan for Nandigram constituency in East Midnapore for the forthcoming Bengal byelections.Earlier, EC announced voting on Oct 6 and counting on Oct 9, with the entire process concluding by Oct 11.The Nandigram byelection was necessitated after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated the seat to retain Bhowanipore, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in state assembly elections held earlier this year. The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir, who retained Nowda seat.Criticising the state govt over local development, Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar said, “The chief minister should have retained Nandigram seat; he should not have given it up. No work has been done in Nandigram so far.”Rebel TMC spokesperson Riju Dutta challenged Mamata Banerjee ahead of the polls, saying rebel factions would not field a candidate against her if she chooses to contest from Nandigram.
