New Delhi: Ahead of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls, the ruling TMC on Friday (November 26) released the list of 144 candidates. 


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Following a three-hour-long brainstorming session at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's house along with poll strategist Prashant Kishor and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC announced the full list of candidates late in the evening, PTI reported. 


In 2015 KMC elections, the TMC had bagged 126 seats. This time Banerjee's party has decided to drop 39 sitting councillors.


"In the last KMC election, we had won 126 seats. Out of them, 87 candidates have been renominated for the upcoming polls and 39 dropped. Of the 87, 78 nominees were fielded from their own wards and six others will have their wards interchanged." TMC Lok Sabha party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said. 


Bandyopadhyay also said that the TMC plans to increase women representation and thus 64 female candidates have been nominated. 


"Of the 144 candidates, 64 are women. It means women representation in the candidate list is around 45 per cent. We maintained representation from all sections of society. In our list, 19 are from scheduled caste and 23 from minority communities. Of the 23, two are Christians," he said.


Meanwhile, the CPI (M)-led Left Front released names of its 114 nominees, leaving 17 seats for the Congress and the ISF for the upcoming 144-ward KMC polls. 


(With PTI inputs)


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