Trinamool fields Shatrughan Sinha and Babul Supriyo in by-elections

KOLKATA: Two former BJP Union ministers, Shatrughan Sinha and Babul Supriyo will contest in Lok Sabha and state Assembly by-elections respectively which will be held on April 12. The results are expected to be declared on April 16.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee tweeted and announced that actor-turned-politician, Shatrughan Sinha, would contest from Asansol Lok Sabha seat while singer-turned-politician, Babul Supriyo, would contest from Ballygunge Assembly seat.

The Ballygunge Assembly seat fell vacant following the death of state minister for Panchayats and Rural Development department Subrata Mukherjee and the Asansol Parliamentary seat fell vacant after Babul Supriyo resigned from BJP and as an MP and joined Trinamool. Earlier, Subrata Mukherjee, defeated his nearest BJP rival Loknath Chatterjee in the Ballygunge Assembly seat by 75, 369 votes in 2021 state polls.

"Happy to announce on behalf of the All India Trinamool Congress that Sri Shatrughan Sinha, former Union Minister and famed actor, will be our candidate in Lok Sabha by-election from Asansol," the TMC boss tweeted.

"Sri Babul Supriyo, former union minister and noted singer, will be our candidate in Vidhansabha by-election from Ballygunge. Jai Hind, Jai Bangla, Jai Ma- Mati- Manush!" she wrote. Supriyo, in response, thanked Banerjee for providing him with the opportunity to serve people.

"I want to thank Didi for allowing me to serve the people of the state. I am grateful to her and would work for the development of the state," Supriyo stated.

Sinha had joined Banerjee's mega anti-BJP conclave at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata before the 2019 parliamentary polls when he was still an MP of the saffron camp.

Sinha, a two-term BJP MP from Patna Sahib had walked out of the BJP over differences with the present leadership. He joined the Congress and entered the poll fray from the same constituency in the 2019 polls but lost to former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Meanwhile, political experts opined that the Ballygunge Assembly area was a stronghold of Trinamool Congress. "Babul Supriyo, because of his amiable nature, will be able to mobilise the youth. All the clubs in Ballygunge support Trinamool," political experts added.

Babul Supriyo was elected from Asansol Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and 2019 on BJP ticket. In the Assembly elections in 2021, Agnimitra Paul was elected from the Asansol North seat. In the recently-held Municipal election in Asansol where TMC has built a stronghold in the past years, out of the 106 seats, Trinamool got 91 seats while the BJP, Congress, Left Front and others got 7, 3, 2 and 3 seats respectively.

In 2015, Trinamool had won 74 out of 106 seats of Asansol Municipal Corporation. The Left Front had bagged 17 seats. BJP had got 8 seats.

In the 2015 civic polls, Trinamool's vote share was 46.32 per cent, which jumped to 63.61 per cent in 2022.

Asansol, the railway and industrial town, had become a red bastion since the Left Front came to power in 1977. The Asansol Municipal Corporation was set up in 1985 and the CPI(M) used to control the area. Trinamool won the civic body in 2015. Meanwhile, the BJP had established its power in Asansol and its candidate was elected in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

A senior Trinamool leader said as the higher secondary examination would be on, a meeting will be held to schedule the timings of the political rallies in these two areas after the examination was over.

Political experts said Mamata Banerjee had played a masterstroke to defeat the Opposition in the by-elections by announcing these two candidates.