KOLKATA: The Left parties do not have a candidate from Bengal for the Rajya Sabha election for the first time in the Upper House ’s more than-six-decade history.The Election Commission scrutiny of the RS papers on Monday resulted in the cancellation of lone Left Front nominee Bikash Bhattacharya ’s candidature for the sixth RS seat from Bengal.The cancellation brings an end to a Left legacy of sending candidates to the Upper House who used to be respected by friends and foes alike for their knowledge and wit they brought to RS debates; few exemplified this like the first Left candidate to the RS in 1952, Bhupesh Gupta of the undivided Communist Party.Bhattacharya being redcarded saw all six candidates fielded by the Trinamool Congress (Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Dola Sen, Manas Bhuiyan and Shanta Chhetri) and the Congress ( Pradip Bhattacharya ) being elected unopposed from the state.The EC , after giving a hearing to the Left candidate, struck down his candidature on the ground that he didn’t file the affidavits — Form 26 and the additional affidavit —within the stipulated time.A report from the returning officer to the EC stated that Bhattacharya filed the additional affidavit two minutes beyond the 3-pm deadline despite sitting in front of the returning officer from much before. CPM leader Sujan Chakrabarty called it “a conspiracy” against the Left.