Mahua in TMC list, Pathan to face Adhir
KOLKATA: The All India Trinamool Congress on Sunday released its candidate roster for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, among whom the most noted one was its firebrand but controversial member Mahua Moitra.
Moitra, a fierce critic of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was expelled from the Lok Sabha last year in cash for a query case. However, she has been reaffirmed as the party’s candidate for the Krishnanagar seat.
Amid the alleged power tussle between the old guards and the next-gen leaders, the TMC did a major overhaul by dropping seven MPs and introducing many new faces, including former cricketer Yusuf Pathan. Interestingly, Pathan has been nominated from Baharampur, a stronghold of State Congress chief and five-term MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Addressing a massive rally in Kolkata, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee explained, “I have fielded candidates, some people were dropped. Those who have not been re-nominated will be accommodated during the assembly polls.” Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has been re-nominated from Asansol, while former MP Haji Nurul Islam replaces actor Nusrat Jahan in the Basirhat, where the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali is situated. Former cricketer Kirti Azad has been nominated for the Bardhaman-Durgapur, previously lost to the BJP in 2019.
Two ministers - Partha Bhowmick and Biplab Mitra - have been thrust into the battle, along with seven other MLAs. Among the MLAs, BJP defectors Biswajit Das and Mukutmani Adhikari will contest from Bongaon and Ranaghat, which the TMC lost to the BJP in 2019.