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While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has already announced its candidate for the Kaliganj by-election and launched its campaign, the Opposition is yet to finalise a nominee. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not made an official announcement, and the Left Front is facing internal discord over candidate selection.

 

Both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and its Left Front ally, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), have staked their claim to the Kaliganj seat in Nadia district. A meeting of the state Left Front was held on Wednesday evening but failed to produce a consensus, with both parties holding firm on their respective stands.

 

For the first time, the CPI(M) has expressed a strong interest in contesting Kaliganj, a move discussed earlier in the day at the party’s state secretariat meeting. However, the RSP has asserted its right to contest, pointing out that it had fielded a candidate from the constituency in 2011. Subsequently, due to the Left’s alliance with the Congress, the seat was allotted to the Congress in both 2016 and 2021.

 

Amid this internal friction, the state Congress has also declared its intent to contest the by-election, further complicating the situation. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim recently said, “The party wants to contest from Kaliganj. Once a decision is reached within the Left Front, we will initiate discussions with the Congress.”

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Sources revealed that Wednesday’s nearly 90-minute Left Front meeting ended without a resolution. RSP leader Tapan Hore is said to have written to Left Front Chairman Biman Basu, reiterating his party’s claim to the seat. Meanwhile, smaller Left Front partners have reportedly proposed backing the Congress candidate, citing its previous contests from Kaliganj and suggesting that such a move could strengthen the Left-Congress alliance ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

 

The RSP had historically maintained a strong presence in Kaliganj until the Congress won the seat in 2016 through the alliance, with Hasanuzzaman Sheikh as its candidate. Sheikh later joined the TMC. In 2021, Congress again fielded a candidate, who came in third with just 12 per cent of the vote. The TMC's Nasiruddin Ahmed won the election with about 53 per cent, while the BJP finished second, trailing by nearly 46,000 votes.

 

The seat fell vacant following the demise of sitting MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed. The TMC has nominated his daughter, Alifa Ahmed, for the upcoming bypoll.

 

 

Alifa has already begun campaigning in the constituency. Meanwhile, the Left Front remains mired in disagreement and the BJP is yet to name a candidate.

 

A new meeting of the Left Front has been scheduled in a bid to break the deadlock over Kaliganj. With political stakes rising, the bypoll has emerged as a closely watched contest in the state's shifting electoral landscape.