The Trinamul Congress on Tuesday announced Alifa Ahmed as the candidate for the bypoll in the Kaliganj Assembly constituency, which became vacant following the death of her father Nasiruddin Ahmed.

Kaliganj is among the five Assembly constituencies in four states where byelections will be held on June 19.

Alifa, 38, a B.Tech graduate, worked with a multinational IT company and quit last week after the party decided to field her from Kaliganj. Her nomination was officially announced by state TMC vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar at the Trinamool headquarters.

“The Trinamool Congress has decided to nominate Alifa Ahmed as its candidate for the Kaliganj bypoll. She is not new to politics and has served as a zilla parishad member from Kaliganj. She worked for the people of the constituency in various capacities. She is a well-known face in Kaliganj, and the people will vote for her,” Majumdar said.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Alifa said her nomination was not unexpected.

“I expected the nomination as the people of Kaliganj believed that I am the one who can fulfil the incomplete work of my father and fill the void left by his sudden demise. I am indebted to Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee for finding me suitable to meet those expectations,” she said while vowing to increase the winning margin her father achieved in 2021.

Nasiruddin had won the Muslim-majority seat by over 47,000 votes.

Residing mostly in Calcutta, Alifa, who is married to a doctor, dismissed concerns that her nomination could be labelled as dynastic.

“I am not just the daughter of the late Trinamool MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed, but an active politician. I became a zilla parishad member in 2018 and managed my father’s Assembly election campaign in 2021. I couldn’t contest from the zilla parishad seat again as it became a reserved seat. But I have always remained connected to Kaliganj as a daughter of the soil, and the people here know and love me. So, the allegation of a dynastic nomination does not apply to me,” she said.

Alifa added that the BJP’s attempts at polarising voters would not succeed in Kaliganj.

“My father always worked with everyone, and I believe in his legacy. I will work with all communities, leaving behind any religious prejudice, to fulfil the incomplete tasks he left behind,” she said.

Alifa said her priorities would be to develop Plassey as a major historical tourism destination, construct an overbridge over the Jalangi river to connect Katwa, establish a quality English-medium school in her constituency, complete the construction of a stadium and promote education among women in a significant way.

The byelection in Kaliganj was necessitated by the untimely death of Nasiruddin Ahmed in February. A well-known lawyer, Nasiruddin was first elected in 2011. Although he lost the seat to Congress candidate Hasanuzzaman Sk in 2016, he reclaimed it in 2021.