TMC announces list of 42 candidates; cricketer Yusuf Pathan to make poll debut
Kolkata: Roping in popular faces such as the former Indian cricketer Yousuf Pathan and Bengali television star Rachana Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC), in a first such move, announced its candidate list for Lok Sabha elections during its political rally on Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday.
Announcing that for the first time the party is pulling off an extraordinary stunt, TMC’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee walked the specially-built ramp-like stage with all the 42 candidates of the party who are going to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She said: “We have tried to give candidates after much consideration. I feel sorry for those who didn’t get a ticket this time. There will be a chance again in Assembly polls and while there are many party posts where we can accommodate them. It is Trinamool versus BJP in Bengal and we will fight alone here. Our party will run in Assam, UP, and Meghalaya.”
The party has fielded the former Indian cricketer Yousuf Pathan from Berhampore, a seat considered a fortress of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury who won it three consecutive times from 2009 -2019 Parliamentary elections. Pathan has thanked Mamata Banerjee on social media for trusting in him. Rachana Banerjee, known for hosting a popular Bengali television show, has been fielded from the Hooghly Lok Sabha seat where Trinamool’s Ratna De (Nag) was defeated by BJP’s Locket Chatterjee in 2019 Parliamentary elections.Kirti Azad, former Indian cricketer, has been fielded from Burdwan- Durgapur constituency, a seat where the BJP defeated TMC in 2019 elections.
Meanwhile, in Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat, where the sitting celebrity Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty recently handed over her resignation citing lack of interest in politics, party’s youth wing (TMYC) president Saayoni Ghosh has been fielded. However, the party dropped its other actress MP Nusrat Jahan, who represented the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat. Sources said that following the Sandeshkhali issue, the party did not take any chances as she was rarely visible in her constituency or in the Parliament. Instead, Haji Nurul Islam has been elected as the candidate.
The party is also fielding Debangshu Bhattacharya, TMC IT-Cell head, from Tamluk where the BJP may field the newly joined former High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
Further, TMC gave tickets to all four politicians who switched camps to TMC from BJP. Biswajit Das is being fielded from Bongaon, Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat (SC), Biplab Mitra (state Cabinet minister of Consumer Affairs) from Balurghat and Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj.
The party also fielded Sujata Mondal in Bishnupur (SC) against the sitting BJP MP of the constituency Saumitra Khan who had filed for divorce after Sujata had joined Trinammol.
Meanwhile, the party also gave tickets to its sitting senior MPs Sougata Roy from Dum Dum constituency and Sudip Bandopadhyay from Kolkata (North). Amidst demands to clear his party loyalty, no ticket was given to Sisir Adhikari from Contai and instead, Uttam Barik was fielded. State cabinet minister Partha Bhowmick was given a ticket from Barrackpore seat, ending speculations that Arjun Singh may be fielded from the seat. As promised, Mahua Moitra was given a ticket from Krishnanagar.
The names for all 42 candidates along with the constituencies are: Cooch Behar (SC) - Jagadish C Basuniya; Alipurduar (ST)- Prakash Chik Baraik; Jalpaiguri(SC)- Nirmal Ch Roy; Darjeeling- Gopal Lama; Raiganj - Krishna Kalyani; Balurghat- Biplab Mitra; Malda (North) - Prasun Banerjee; Malda (South) Dakshin -Shahnawaz Ali Raihan; Jangipur- Khalilur Rahman; Berhampore - Yusuf Pathan; Murshidabad - Abu Taher Khan; Krishnanagar- Mahua Moitra; Ranaghat (SC) - Mukut Mani Adhikari; Bongaon - Biswajit Das; Barrackpore -Partha Bhowmick; Dum Dum - Saugata Roy; Barasat- Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar; Basirhat- Haji Nurul Islam; Joynagar (SC) -Pratima Mondal; Mathurapur (SC) -Bapi Halder; Diamond Harbour - Abhishek Banerjee; Jadavpur -Saayoni Ghosh; Kolkata Dakshin- Mala Roy; Kolkata (North) Sudip Bandhopadhyay; Howrah- Prasun Banerjee; Uluberia- Sajda Ahmed; Serampore- Kalyan Banerjee; Hooghly-Rachana Banerjee; Arambagh (SC)-Mitali Bag; Tamluk- Debangshu Bhattacharya; Contai -Uttam Barik; Ghatal-Deepak Adhikari (Dev); Jhargram (ST)-Kalipada Soren; Medinipur- June Malia; Purulia- Shantiram Mahato; Bankura- Arup Chakrabarty; Bishnupur (SC)- Sujata Mondal; Burdwan East (SC) - Sharmila Sarkar; Burdwan Durgapur - Kirti Azad; Asansol - Shatrughan Sinha; Bolpur (SC)- Asit Kumar Mal; Birbhum - Satabdi Roy.
