List of All India Forward Bloc candidates in the 2014 Indian general election

Summary

On 21 March 2014 the All India Forward Bloc released its first list of candidates for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The list included candidates for 38 seats in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi. According to the party general secretary Debabrata Biswas the main objective of the party in the elections was "to strengthen and unite the Left, democratic and secular forces to achieve an alternative policy for reconstruction of the country".[1][2]

Bihar edit

Pancham Lal joined the party on 18 March 2014, and was nominated for the Pataliputra seat. Lal had been a senior civil servant. He retired from his post as chief secretary in 2012. During his administrative career, he faced opposition from several different Chief Ministers as he criticised corruption and criminal links of state ministers. He had earlier been associated with the Indian National Congress and the Samajwadi Party.[3] Commenting on his candidature, Lal stated that his foremost objective was not to win the Lok Sabha seat but "to raise the cause of the oppressed and weaker sections, who are exploited and victimized".[4]

Karnataka edit

The party fielded G.R. Shivshankar, secretary of its Karnataka state unit, in the Bangalore South seat.[5][6] He is the president of the labour wing of the party, the Trade Union Coordination Committee (TUCC).[7][8]

Kerala edit

No candidates from Kerala were included in the first list released on 21 March 2014.[1] On 11 March 2014 the party chairman K. Velappan Nair stated that the party would contest four seats in the state; Kollam, Idukki, Thrissur and Kannur. The All India Secretary of the party, G. Devarajan, would contest from Kollam, whilst no names were given for the three other seats.[9] G. Devarajan would contested against the Left Democratic Front nominee and CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby and the United Democratic Front nominee N.K. Premachandran of the RSP.[10] Three days later G. Devarajan stated that he would withdraw his candidature if the party was included in the LDF and that talks with CPI(M) were ongoing.[11]

Maharashtra edit

The party fielded the candidacy of veteran pro-Vidarbha statehood leader Jambuwantrao Dhote in the Nagpur seat. Dhote had won the Nagpur seat in the 1971 election as an All India Forward Bloc candidate but had since contested on behalf of many other parties. Another pro-Vidarbha statehood leader, Sandesh Bhalekar from the Parivartan Morcha, was fielded by the party in the Ramtek seat.[12] In a statement made in early February 2014, commenting on his return to the party, Dhote stated that the ambition of the All India Forward Bloc was to contest all ten Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha. At the time he hinted that the party was seeking to establish a pre-poll pact with the Janata Dal (United), the Indian Union Muslim League and the Shivrajya Party.[13] Dhote was elected deputy chairman of the party at its 17th congress in September 2013.[14]

West Bengal edit

In West Bengal the party contests elections as part of the Left Front.[15] In regards to the two West Bengal seats that it won in the 2009 election, the party decided to field incumbent parliamentarian Narahari Mahato in the Purulia seat whilst fielding a new candidate in the Cooch Behar seat.[1]

List of candidates edit

State/UT
No.
Constituency Reserved for
(SC/ST/None)
Candidatea[2][15][16]
Andaman & Nicobar Andaman & Nicobar None M.K Thakur
Assam Tezpur None Rajen Saikia
Assam Jorhat None Haren Borgonhai
Assam Kaliabor None Mithul Kumar (Tanti)
Assam Nowgong None Rafikul Islam
Assam Dibrugarh None Cheniram Moran
Assam Barpeta None Rabbul Islam
Bihar Muzaffarpur None Ravindra Lal Karna
Bihar Sheohar None Ramashankar Singh
Bihar Arrah None Shriprakash Tiwari (Munna Tiwari)
Bihar Pataliputra None Pancham Lal
Delhi West Delhi None Charanjeet Singh
Haryana Kurukshetra None Manoj Kumar
Haryana Karnal None Ashish Sharma
Haryana Sonipat None Ram Mehar
Jharkhand Kodarma None Raghunandan Prasad Biswakarma
Jharkhand Giridih None Sanjib Kumar
Jharkhand Singhbhum ST Miran Munda
Karnataka Bangalore South None G.R. Shivashankar
Maharashtra Nagpur None Jambuwantrao Dhote
Maharashtra Ramtek SC Sandesh Bhalekar
Maharashtra Bhandara-Gondiya None Ram Dayal Hirkane
Maharashtra Yavatmal-Washim None Jambuwantrao Dhote
Maharashtra Amravati SC Narayan Dhangar
Maharashtra Osmanabad None Shiv Das Lakhadive
Maharashtra Nashik None Mahesh Avaad
Maharashtra Hingoli None Sheikh Sultan
Odisha Kalahandi None Mrityunjaya Prasad
Rajasthan Jaipur None Navraj Sharma
Uttar Pradesh Kanpur None Arun Sharma
Uttar Pradesh Mainpuri None Veer Singh Chauhan
Uttar Pradesh Sitapur None Jagmohan Singh Verma
Uttar Pradesh Ballia None Jairam Pandey
Uttar Pradesh Baghpat None Narendra Kumar
Uttar Pradesh Gonda None Shriram Yadav
West Bengal Purulia None Narahari Mahato
West Bengal Barasat None Murtoza Hossain
West Bengal Cooch Behar SC Dipak Kumar Roy

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Business Standard. Forward Bloc announces first list 38 LS candidates
  2. ^ a b The Statesman. FB releases first list Archived 22 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Times of India. Two ex-babus, former DGP join electoral fight
  4. ^ Business Standard. Caste matters for ex-officials in choosing Bihar seat (Election Special)
  5. ^ The Hindu. Shivashankar is Forward Bloc nominee for Bangalore South
  6. ^ The Hindu. Left parties to contest 30 seats
  7. ^ The Hindu. ‘Tainted' officer's promotion opposed
  8. ^ The Hindu. TUCC to stage protest tomorrow
  9. ^ The Hindu. Forward Bloc to contest four Parliament seats
  10. ^ Times of India. After RSP, Forward Bloc joins race for Kollam
  11. ^ Kaumudi. If made an ally in LDF, ready to withdraw from fray: Devarajan
  12. ^ Times of India. Veteran pro-Vidarbha leader Jambuwantrao Dhote to contest from Nagpur
  13. ^ Times of India. Forward Bloc to contest all LS seats in Vidarbha
  14. ^ All India Forward Bloc. 17th Party Congress of All India Forward Bloc Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ a b People's Democracy. West Bengal Left Front Releases List of Candidates
  16. ^ All India Forward Bloc. Candidates : "2014 Loksabha Election" Archived 22 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine