Kolkata, March 7 (IANS) Congress stalwart and union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Avijit will officially join the party on March 11 and contest the state assembly polls from Nalhati constituency in Birbhum district, an official said Monday.

"Avijit Mukherjee will be officially joining Congress on March 11. We will make the announcement on that day. He has left his public sector job a few days back, so now he can join the party and contest in the elections," Birbhum district Congress president Asit Mal told IANS.

"We will announce it officially on March 11 at the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee office in Kolkata," he said.

According to Mal, Avijit Mukherjee, 52, an engineering graduate from Jadavpur University, will contest the polls from Nalhati constituency.

Avijit, who had earlier held the post of general manager with the public sector Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has resigned from his job to contest the elections.

"The people of Nalhati want Avijit-babu to contest elections from there and our party workers also want him to contest," said Mal.

The Mukherjees hail from Birbhum district's Meriti area near Kirnahar in Nanur block. The family's traditional Durga Puja attracts a large number of people, with Pranab Mukherjee himself donning the role of the priest.

The buzz about Avijit, who has long kept a very low public profile, started Nov 3 last year when during a Durga Puja Vijaya Sammilani at Nalhati he was mobbed by 2,000 Congress party workers who requested him to contest the assembly polls.