From Rachana Banerjee to Yusuf Pathan, Trinamool celeb candidates for LS 2024
KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee revealed a lineup of new celebrity candidates from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections during the mega Jana Garjana Sabha at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday.
TMC has nominated two well-known former cricketers, Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan, to contest from Bardhaman-Durgapur and Berhampore in the upcoming elections. Pathan, the former all-rounder, will be facing off against Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. “I’m eternally grateful to Smt. @MamataOfficial for welcoming me into the TMC family and trusting me with the responsibility to become people’s voice in the Parliament. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to uplift the poor and deprived, and that is what I hope to achieve,” said Pathan, part of the winning Indian teams in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Reportedly, master blaster Sachin Tendular called up Pathan and congratulated him.
In the fiercely contested Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat, TMC has opted for a change by replacing sitting MP and actress Mimi Chakraborty with the party’s youth president and actress Saayoni Ghosh. TMC has chosen Haji Nurul Islam over sitting MP Nusrat Jahan for the Basirhat seat.
Hooghly’s Lok Sabha polls will feature a face-off between two actresses. Rachana Banerjee, known for ‘Didi No 1,’ will represent TMC, while BJP has nominated Bengali actress Locket Chatterjee from Hooghly. Tollywood actor June Malia is contesting on a Trinamool Congress ticket from Medinipur, and the party has retained two-time Ghatal MP Dev. The superstar will contest against BJP’s actor-politician Hiraan. The CM also mentioned in the massive rally that the Ghatal Master Plan will be implemented by the state government.
Veteran actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha, the current MP from Asansol, is set to once again contest from the Lok Sabha constituency. In Birbhum, the TMC has nominated popular Bengali actress Satabdi Roy, who has been a sitting MP since 2009.
There might be confusion between two Prasun Banerjees — one, an actor and former IPS officer, and the other, an Arjuna Awardee footballer, who is the sitting TMC MP from Howrah.
He will contest from the same seat. The former IPS officer and actor (of ‘Desher Mati’ fame) Prasun Banerjee will now contest from Malda North. Bengal’s irrigation minister, Partha Bhowmick, popular for ‘Abar Proloy,’ has been chosen as the candidate for Barrackpore.
