Siliguri, Apr 2 : A total of 401 nominations have been filed for the 54 assembly constituencies in five north Bengal districts going to the first phase polls on April 18.
Among the strong contenders are Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharjee(CPI-M) from Siliguri, PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami(RSP) from Alipurduar, slain All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang's widow Bharati Tamang and former Andhra Pradesh chief secretary and GJM candidate Trilok Dewan from Darjeeling.The battle lines will be drawn after April 4, the last date of withdrawal of nominations. Scrutiny will take place today.
With barely a fortnight remaining, campaigning has reached fever pitch.
Trinamool Congress' Dr Rudranath Bhattacharjee, a new entrant in politics, is pitted against Mr Bhattacharjee.
Mr Goswami, who had been fighting from the Dhakuria seat in Kolkata but had to shift following delimitation, will take on Trinamool Congress' D P Roy.
Incidentally, Goswami's party colleague Nirmal Das, the MLA from Alipurduar who did not get a ticket this time, has been venting his ire publicly. He recently destroyed the party office in Alipurduar.
In all, 524 companies of para-military forces would be deployed in the poll-bound areas. Of these the maximum number of 125 would be posted in Jalpaiguri district. Darjeeling would get 70 companies, official sources said.
--UNI
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