The district President of the Trinamul Congress, Biplab Mitra, has finalised the list of 18 candidates who will contest the polls for the South Dinajpur Zilla Parishad seats, and has forwarded the same to the state committee for a final nod.

Interestingly, a group of leaders and running members of the Zilla Parishad have been selected to fight for the panchayat samity, while more than six panchayat samity members have been selected as candidates for the Zilla Parishad.

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According to political observers, in the list of candidates for the Zilla Parishad, Mr Mitra has tried creating a balance between aggrieved leaders and those who never lost faith on him even in times of crisis.

“The candidates of the Trinamul Zilla Parisad probably have to submit their nominations within Saturday. The final list of candidates has not been published yet, as there might be further changes even among the wining candidates,” a source said.

According to TMC party sources, Lalita Tigga will be submitting her nomination from a different area of Gangarampur. The Sahakari Sabhadhipati, Kalipada Sarkar, will be fighting as a candidate for the Ganarampur panchayat samity.

Sankar Sarkar, the present Sabhapati of Gangarampur panchayat samity will be filing his nomination for the Zilla Parishad from Gangarampur. In the past five years, some winning candidates of the Zilla Parisad have had bad relations with Mr Mitra, especially at that time when he was stripped of his position as the district party president. Some on them, on the other hand, kept their faith on their leader and supported him throughout.

“This time, Mr Mitra will reward them with his political support and by allotting them secured seats,” said a TMC leader of Gangarampur. Meanwhile, Mr Mitra said that there is no conflict among his partymen.

“There is no conflict in the camp. We have finalized 18 names for the Zilla Parishad of South Dinajpur. For some unavoidable reasons, we had to reshape the list. Everybody has done well in the last five years and they are capable of working in any area and in any situation. We are hopeful that in the coming years our leaders will continue their service for South Dinajpur,” he said.