Purulia (West Bengal) [India], Ajit Prasad Mahato, an independent candidate from Purulia, arrived on a buffalo to file his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections on Friday. When he proceeded to file nomination papers, a large number of supporters were accompanying him.
Speaking to ANI, he said that he is contesting the elections to get Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Kurmi community and to protect their language and culture. "I filed my nomination. We are fighting for the ST status of the Kurmi community and the 'Sarna Dharma Code'... We also want to protect our language and culture," he told ANI. Purulia constituency in West Bengal will go to polls on May 25 in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections. He is contesting against BJP's Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato and TMC's Shantira Mahato. West Bengal, which sends 42 MPs to Parliament, is voting in all seven phases. Voting is going on for the first phase. The two polls were held on 19 April and 26 April respectively, polling for the remaining parliamentary constituencies will be held on 4 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June respectively. Counting of votes will be done on June 4. In the state's constituencies, the main fight is between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, although TMC is part of the India block, but it does not have seat-sharing arrangements with other parties like the Congress and the Left in the alliance. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, TMC had won 34 seats in the state, while BJP had to be content with only 2 seats. CPI(M) won 2 seats, while Congress won 4 seats. However, the BJP performed much better in the 2019 elections, winning 18 seats against TMC's 22 seats. Congress's seats were reduced to just 2, while the Left got a blank.
Speaking to ANI, he said that he is contesting the elections to get Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Kurmi community and to protect their language and culture. "I filed my nomination. We are fighting for the ST status of the Kurmi community and the 'Sarna Dharma Code'... We also want to protect our language and culture," he told ANI. Purulia constituency in West Bengal will go to polls on May 25 in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections. He is contesting against BJP's Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato and TMC's Shantira Mahato. West Bengal, which sends 42 MPs to Parliament, is voting in all seven phases. Voting is going on for the first phase. The two polls were held on 19 April and 26 April respectively, polling for the remaining parliamentary constituencies will be held on 4 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June respectively. Counting of votes will be done on June 4. In the state's constituencies, the main fight is between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, although TMC is part of the India block, but it does not have seat-sharing arrangements with other parties like the Congress and the Left in the alliance. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, TMC had won 34 seats in the state, while BJP had to be content with only 2 seats. CPI(M) won 2 seats, while Congress won 4 seats. However, the BJP performed much better in the 2019 elections, winning 18 seats against TMC's 22 seats. Congress's seats were reduced to just 2, while the Left got a blank.
