Siliguri, March 8: Sources in the Darjeeling district Trinamul today said Shukla Deb, the wife of minister Gautam Deb, would contest the SMC election from ward 17 of the town.

Party sources said Nantu Pal, the former SMC chairman, will field his wife Manju from ward 11 of Siliguri.

"As we had hinted earlier that some of the top leaders would field their wives in their wards as these have been reserved for women candidates this time, it is sure now that Shukla Deb and Manju Pal will be Trinamul candidates in wards 17 and 11, respectively. The candidates' list has been almost finalised but still, there are chances that more leaders might field their wives in some wards," a senior Trinamul leader said today.

The state election commission has suggested that 92 civic bodies, among them the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, hold elections on April 25. The state government, however, has not announced the date.

While the wives will contest from the previous seats the two leaders held, Deb will contest from ward 15, and Pal from ward 12, the party source said.

Asked about other candidates, the source said: "It has been decided that Krishna Pal will contest from ward 23. Arupratan Ghosh, the Darjeeling district INTTUC president, will contest from ward 6. Sushmita Sengupta, another known face in Trinamul, will contest from ward 19 where Asok Bhattacharya (of the CPM) is likely to contest from. Also, senior Trinamul leader Pratul Chakraborty will contest from ward 24, his old seat."

The party, however, is yet to finalise its candidate in ward 37.

"Ranjan Silsharma and Dipak Seal, both prominent district leaders of the party, want to file nominations for this seat. Both have their followers in the ward, which has made things complicated for the district leaders," the source said.

While Seal is a first-timer in the SMC polls, Silsharma is a former councillor. He had contested from ward 36 in the 2009 polls but this time, the ward has been reserved for women.

He has thus sought a nomination from ward 37.

Political observers said a recent attempt made by Silsharma to induct Mahananda Mondal, the chief protester of Ramghat issue, into Trinamul, had turned the issue in his favour.

"However, the plan did not materialise finally and Mahananda, instead, was elevated to the post of local committee president by the Forward Bloc. Silsharma's proposition had even made minister Deb interested but eventually, Mondal, did not switch," a party insider added.

"This foiled bid has pushed Silsharma slightly on the backfoot but even then, the party cannot discard his demand outright."

Deb, who is also the Darjeeling district Trinamul president, held a meeting at the district party office here today. At the meeting, Ramkumar Agarwal, a former Congress councilor, joined Trinamul, along with couple of others who are from different occupations and dwell in the town.

While talking to newspersons, Deb said: "Our candidates' list has been almost finalised. The district committee will hold another meeting in a couple of days to endorse it finally. It would be sent to the state committee then. We are expecting the state's approval by next week."