Kolkata, May 31 : The BJP on Saturday named Ashish Ghosh as its candidate for the bypoll for Kaliganj assembly constituency in Nadia district of West Bengal scheduled on June 19. The bypoll will witness a three-cornered contest involving Trinamool Congress, BJP, and Congress backed by the CPI (M)-led Left Front.

Trinamool Congress was the first to announce the name of its candidate for the Kaliganj bypoll on May 27. The ruling party candidate is Alifa Ahmed, the daughter of the erstwhile Trinamool Congress legislator from Kaliganj, late Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose sudden demise in February this year has necessitated by-polls.

On Friday, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the name of Kabil Uddin Shaikh as the party candidate for the bypoll. Thereafter, after an internal meeting, the Left Front decided to support the Congress candidate.

Finally, on Saturday, the BJP announced the name of its candidate.

In the 2021 assembly polls, Nasiruddin Ahmed got elected defeating the BJP candidate Abhijit Ghosh by a margin of 46,987 votes. The Left Front-supported Congress candidate Abul Kashem finished the race in the third position securing just 25,076 votes.

Kaliganj is among the five assembly constituencies in three states that will be going for y-polls on June 19, the other four being Kadi and Visavadar in Gujarat, Ludhiana-West in Punjab, and Nilambur in Kerala.

The counting will be on June 23. The last date for nominations is June 2, and the date for the scrutiny of nominations is June 3. The last date for the withdrawal of candidates is June 5

Earlier this week, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal announced that 20 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) will be deployed for the Kaliganj by-polls and the deployment will be completed by next week.

Earlier this month, on May 9, the final electoral list for Kaliganj was published. The final list featured a decrease of over 2,000 voters from the number in the 2021 Assembly polls. The final list was announced following a special summary revision by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

/IANS