Dev likely to contest in Lok Sabha elections from Ghatal Constituency

Kolkata: A day after meeting the party chairperson Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) members have confirmed that Dipak Adhikari (Dev) will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Ghatal Constituency in West Midnapore.

Amid apprehensions and reports that he may not be contesting the elections again and wants to take a break from politics, the actor turned politician on Sunday confirmed that it was not up to him to take a break. On Sunday he visited actor Mithun Chakraborty who is admitted in a city hospital. Following the visit, Dev told the media: “I had said earlier too that the decision to quit politics, or contest elections, does not just depend on me. Didi’s (Mamata) opinion is vital. I only want to say that even if I want to quit politics, politics will never let go of me.”

On Saturday, Dev, a two-term TMC Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Ghatal, held a discussion with Abhishek Banerjee at the latter’s Camac Street office and then met TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in Kalighat. Sources said the discussion mainly concerned whether he should contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It was learnt that party’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee is reluctant to let go of Dev and wants him to contest the elections due to his clean image and his popularity among the people. However, it is not clear what his conversations were with Abhishek who had recently said that the party should give tickets to people who can devote their full time to politics and not to “part-time” politicians.

The speculations of Dev not wanting to contest the elections were sparked by his social media post. On the last day of the Budget session of Parliament, Dev spoke about the Ghatal masterplan for which he has remained vocal for years but also added that even if he does remain an MP he wants to see the project materialise. Later, captioning the video of his speech in Parliament, he wrote: “My last day in the Parliament. Thanku Didi. Thanku to the people of Ghatal Loksabha.”

Soham Chakraborty, another MLA of Trinamool, who is also an actor, told the media that Dev will be contesting from the Ghatal constituency in upcoming Lok Sabha elections. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh too has confirmed that Dev was a part of Trinamool and will continue to be. Meanwhile, TMC announced that it has appointed Radhakrishna Maity as new district chairman of West Midnapore’s Ghatal organisational district.