Lok Sabha elections 2024: CPI(M) releases its first list of candidates

New Delhi: CPI(M) will fight the Congress and other I.N.D.I.A. partners  in some seats in states like Karnataka and Jharkhand though it will support their allies where they or their Left allies are not contesting.

However, the Left party is in alliance with Congress and others in Bihar, Tripura and Tamil Nadu.

The party has released its first list of 44 candidates, including 17 candidates for West Bengal, where the party will have seat sharing arrangements with the Congress, and 15 for Kerala where both sides are fighting against each other. Party leaders said Kerala is a “different story” as BJP is a marginal player.

The CPI(M) is fielding Sanjay Kumar in Khagaria seat in Bihar in alliance with RJD and Congress while senior leader Amra Ram is fielded from Rajasthan’s Sikar where Congress is supporting the party.

In Tripura (East), Rajendra Reang will get the support of Congress while DMK has allotted two seats in Tamil Nadu.

Of the three sitting MPs, the party is fielding two again – AM Arif from Kerala’s Alappuzha and Su Venkatesan from Tamil Nadu’s Madurai. PR Natarajan has been dropped as his sitting Coimbatore seat is taken over by DMK and instead given Dindigul from where it is fielding R Sachidhanandham.

In Karnataka, the CPI(M) is fielding MP Munivenkatappa in Chikkaballapur, where the party has some significant number of followers. In 27 other seats in the state, the Left party has made it clear that it will support Congress candidates and a decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held by Polit Bureau member MA Baby recently.

The party is also fielding candidates in Araku in Andhra Pradesh (Pachipenta Appalanarasa) and in Bhuvanagiri in Telangana (Mohd Jahangir). In both states, the CPI(M) is in touch with the Congress for an alliance.

In Jharkhand, it has fielded Gopen Soren from JMM’s sitting seat Rajmahal. In Barpeta, it is fielding Manoranjan Talukdar while D Ayyappan will fight from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Purushottam Lal Bigla is fighting from Jalandhar. 

In Bengal, the prominent candidates include state Secretary Mohd Salim (Murshidabad), Sujan Chakravarty (Dum Dum), Dipsita Dhar (Sreerampur) and Saira Shah Halim (Kolkata South). Salim’s presence in Murshidabad is likely to help the prospects of Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too.