The Trinamool Congress on Sunday named Sherman Ali Ahmed as its candidate from the Mandia Assembly constituency in poll-bound Assam.
The Trinamool had named 17 candidates in its first list released on Friday and seven candidates in its second list released on Sunday.
The party withdrew the candidature of its senior vice-president, Dulu Ahmed, from Chamaria constituency, leaving 23 candidates in the fray for the one-phase Assembly polls to be held on April 9.
One notable candidate on the second list was Sherman Ali Ahmed, a three-term MLA.
The suspended Congress MLA had joined the Raijor Dal in February. He was named the Raijor Dal’s vice-president and also its candidate from Mandia in Barpeta district.
However, the Congress had objected to his candidature because he had publicly criticised the party leadership and was suspended for “anti-party” activities in 2021. He is known for his outspoken nature, often courting controversy.
After the Congress and the Raijor Dal finalised their seat-sharing agreement, the Raijor Dal did not formally nominate Ahmed as its Mandia candidate because of opposition from the Congress, which is heading a six-party Opposition alliance in the polls.
A state Trinamool office-bearer said Ahmed joined the party on Saturday and visited the state office in Guwahati on Sunday. “We now have 23 candidates in the fray, including Ahmed,” the office-bearer said. The Trinaool Congress is not part of the Opposition alliance in Assam.
The Trinamool Congress has no MLA or MP in the state and has been struggling to emerge as a political force despite maintaining a presence since 2010. It has had two MLAs — former state president Dwipen Pathak — and the deceased Alok Kumar Ghosh.