Howrah hasn't seen civic elections in 10 years: BJP nominee Rathin Chakraborty after launching LS campaign

Howrah (West Bengal): A day after being named the BJP candidate for the Howrah Lok Sabha constituency, Rathin Chakraborty hit the ground running on Sunday as he offered prayers at a local temple before launching campaign.

After laying floral tributes at the statue of Swami Vivekananda and offering prayers at the popular Siddheshwari Temple and another shrine in the area, Chakraborty was spotted going door to door, seeking support and the electoral blessings of locals.

Later, the BJP's Howrah candidate was pictured painting a wall graffiti before leading a bike rally in the area along with party suppporters.

The BJP supporters were in good voice as they chanted slogans in favour of the party's Howrah candidate.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of his campaign, Chakraborty said, "I am grateful to our national leadership for giving me this opportunity to represent the people of Howrah in the Lok Sabha. We will go to the people of a 'Vikshit Bharat' (developed India) and an 'Akhand Bharat' (a re-unified India). Howrah has not seen a municipal election in the last ten years. The city has borne the brunt of pollution at this time. My primary objective and responsibility if I do get elected to the Parliament from Howrah will be to work for the city's development and progress."

The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, including those for 20 of the 42 constituencies in West Bengal. The list of BJP names from Bengal includes prominent leaders such as Nisith Pramanik, Sukanta Majumdar, Shantanu Thakur, and Manoj Tigga.

Majumdar, the BJP's Bengal president, on Satuday expressed confidence all selected candidates would deliver wins for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, helping the BJP meet its target of 370-plus seats in the Lok Sabha.

"Our selected candidates for all 20 seats are leaders representing different sections of society. All BJP candidates, members workers will contest the elections together, in the spirit of oneness, in line with the stated objective of gifting more seats from Bengal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi than the last time," Majumdar told ANI on Saturday.

The BJP's first list of candidates includes 34 ministers from both the Union and states, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The 195 seats for which candidates were named included 51 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in West Bengal and 5 in Delhi.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani also found themselves on the BJP's ticket from Lucknow and Amethi respectively while yesteryear actor Hema Malini was also repeated from Mathura.

The list of candidates from UP also included MoS, Home Ajay Mishra Teni, former Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, SPS Baghel, and Sakshi Maharaj.