Kolkata: Former Indian team cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad featured in the candidate list announced by West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, in a virtual snub to the Congress which was pressing for a seat adjustment.
Actor turned politician and sitting MP Satrughan Sinha got renomination from Asansol, while expelled MP Mahua Moitra would be in the race from her old constituency Krishnanagar, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced at a public rally organised by the party at the historic Brigade Parade ground here. Banerjee would fight the polls from Diamond Harbour, eyeing a hat-trick of wins. He earlier triumphed from the constituency in 2014 and 2019.
Pathan would be the TMC contestant from Baharampur in Murshidabad district, one of the three Muslim-majority districts in Bengal. At present the constituency is represented in parliament by Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Also the state Congress chief, Chowdhury is known as a bete noire of Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Azad, a member of India's 1983 World Cup winning team, would be the TMC candidate from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency, which was won by the BJP's S S Ahluwalia in 2019.
Azad has been the TMC's in-charge in Goa since March 2022. He earlier had a long stint in the Bharatiya Janata Party and won Delhi's Gole Market Assembly seat in 1993 and the Darbhanga Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 as the saffron party's candidate. In 2019, he switched over to the Congress.
The Trinamool reposed faith in its old warhorses Saugata Roy from Dum Dum and Sudip Banerjee from Kolkata Uttar seats. The two veteran leaders have been winning their respective seats since 2009.
The Trinamool also renominated Bengali matinee idol Dipak Biswas (Dev) from Ghatal. Three Bengali actresses June Malia, Rachana Banerjee and Sayani Gish would try their electoral luck from Midnapore, Hooghly and Jadavpur seats respectively. Malia is a TMC sitting MLA from the Midnapore Assembly constituency, while Rachana Banerjee is set to make his debut in politics.
Ghosh, presently TMC youth wing chief, has been fielded in place of another Bengali actress Mimi Chakraborty, who had won from Jadavpur in 2019.
The Trinamool has also dropped its MP and Bengali actress Nusrat Jahan from Basirhat, which includes the trouble spot of Sandeshkhali, which has been in the limelight recently following several allegations of sexual assault of women and forcible grabbing of tribal people's land by th state's ruling party loyalists. Hazi Nurul Islam has been nominated as the TMC candidate from Basisrhat this time.
The Trinamool has also dropped Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh and fielded Partha Bhowmick from the seat.
In a dramatic act, Mamata Banerjee escorted the candidates on a long ramp walk at the rally to be introduced to the assembled people.
In her address, Banerjee accused the BJP of committing atrocities against the people of Bengal
"After winning 18 seats in the last Lok Sabha election, they commenced their atrocities against the people of Bengal," the CM said.
"They (BJP) go to Delhi and ask the central government to stop the legitimate funds of the people of Bengal.," she said.
Banerjee also asked why the BJP failed to act when women were *paraded naked on the streets of Manipur".
"What did the BJP do to stop it? How many teams were sent to Manipur?" she asked.
Banerjee said "Now after 2-3 days, ED will again come here to raid."
Without naming, Banerjee came down heavily on former Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhay for joining the BJP after quitting the job.
"The Judiciary should not sit in the BJP's chair and deliver verdicts. Though I have a huge respect for the judiciary, this is not done," Banerjee said.
By announcing its candidates from all 42 seats in the state, the Trinamool seems to have finally shut the doors on the Congress, which has been persistently coaxing the Mamata Banerjee-led party for a seat adjustments, even after she publicly announced that her party would go solo in the state.
After the anti-BJP opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc's successes in forging electoral understandings in several states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana, the Bengal developments have come as a dampener, even though it clears the deck for seat adjustments between the Left parties and the Congress in the eastern state.
