Kolkata: Congress released its second list of nine candidates for the assembly polls late Wednesday night, with state president Subhankar Sarkar set to contest from Serampore. Fighting alone for the first time in nearly three decades, the party has fielded 293 candidates across 294 constituencies.The high command in New Delhi screened over 2,500 applications, shifting focus toward youth and grassroots workers. “Nearly 80% of our candidates are fresh faces contesting the assembly polls for the first time,” Sarkar said.Among the newcomers are Roahan Mitra (Ballygunge), Asutosh Chatterjee (Rashbehari), Pradip Prasad (Bhowanipore) and Sheikh Jariatul Hossain (Nandigram). Party sources said 134 candidates are below 50 years of age. The list includes 78 candidates from minority communities and nearly 90 from SC and ST communities. Qazi Abdur Rahim, son of Qazi Abdul Ghaffar, was nominated from Baduria. Rahim, who won the seat on a TMC ticket in 2021, rejoined Congress last week. Former minister Manoj Chakraborty will contest from Sagardighi.
