West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday, March 10, 2024, introduced the names of all 42 candidates for the approaching Lok Sabha election in April-May this yr.
PREMIUM Kolkata, India – March 10, 2024: Chief Minister of West Bengal and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Chairperson Mamata Banerjee together with 42 Lok Sabha candidates stroll on the ramp at Brigade Parade Ground to greet their supporters throughout ‘Jonogorjon’ Rally in Kolkata, India, on Sunday, March 10, 2024. (Photo by Samir Jana/ Hindustan Times)(Hindustan Times)
The Mamata Banerjee-led social gathering’s listing had a couple of surprises, with tickets given to a former Indian cricket star, a psychiatrist, a Padma Shri award-winning Santhali author and an ex-Indian Police Service officer, whereas the social gathering additionally dropped 5 sitting Members of Parliament (MP).
“We have tried our best. A few have been left out. I am sorry for that. The state elections are coming (in 2026). Also, there are portfolios within the party. I will include them (leaders who were not given tickets this time),” Banerjee stated at a celebration rally on March 10.
TMC dropped its strongman and Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, 62. Instead, state irrigation minister Partha Bhowmik was fielded from the constituency. Singh was current on the dais when the announcement was being made.
“I was promised the Barrackpore ticket when I was brought to the party. It was a breach of trust. If the party had told me that I wouldn’t get the ticket, I wouldn’t have returned (to TMC),” the 62-year-old Singh advised reporters the following day.
Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 after he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket by the TMC, and defeated TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He returned to TMC in May 2022.
In December 2023, political mudslinging broke out between Singh and TMC’s Jagatdal legislator Somnath Shyam after a relative of Singh was arrested in a homicide case. Both accused one another of getting a nexus with criminals.
“Singh returned to the TMC out of fear. But all the while, he was in touch with BJP leaders including me,” Suvendu Adhikari, BJP Leader of the Opposition within the West Bengal meeting, advised the media on Sunday.
Two Tollywood stars, Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan, who received the Lok Sabha seats from Jadavpur and Basirhat, respectively, in 2019 have been additionally dropped. While one other actress Saayoni Ghosh was fielded from the Jadavpur seat, the social gathering’s former MP Haji Nurul Islam was pitted in Basirhat.
Last month, Chakraborty met the social gathering supremo and West Bengal chief minister Banerjee and later advised the media that she had submitted her resignation.
“I have understood that politics is not my cup of tea. Didi (Banerjee) called me. I met her but she has not accepted my resignation. She said she will take care of everything,” Chakraborty advised reporters on February 15, including that she needs to stay a celebration employee however doesn’t need to proceed as an MP.
Jahan was a first-time MP from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas. Even although Sandeshkhali within the district has been on the boil over the previous month over allegations of sexual assault and land grabbing by native TMC leaders, she hasn’t visited the riot-hit areas. The actor-turned-MP has additionally confronted criticism over her silence.
Jahan’s title additionally bought embroiled in an alleged flat-selling rip-off in 2022. The Enforcement Directorate registered a case towards her, as she was a director with a shady monetary entity which allegedly duped senior residents of a number of crores of rupees by promising them residential flats at cheap charges.
“As a woman, as a public representative, I have always followed my party’s guidelines and served the people. With the Sandeshkhali incident raging, our Hon CM has already sent help, and necessary steps are being taken for the welfare of the people. We are not above the law. thus abiding by it and supporting the administration is what one needs to do,” the 34-year-old actress posted on X deal with on February 25.
Ghosh is the president of the TMC’s youth wing. She joined the social gathering in February 2021 and was given a ticket within the 2021 meeting polls from Asansol South. She nonetheless misplaced to BJP’s Agnimitra Paul, a clothier turned politician.
Islam, 60, then again, is a veteran chief who has been the TMC’s MP from Basirhat from 2009 to 2014. He is presently the TMC’s sitting legislator from Haroa in North 24 Parganas. He can be the chairman of the social gathering’s minority cell.
In Arambagh, two-time sitting MP Aparupa Poddar was additionally dropped and in her place, Mitali Bagh was chosen as the brand new candidate. Senior TMC leaders stated that Poddar was pulled up a number of instances by the social gathering’s high brass.
“In 2016, she was rebuked by Mamata Banerjee for her conduct at a toll plaza, where she had reportedly slapped someone. In 2022, she was again admonished by the supremo for not taking calls, speaking out in public and embarrassing the party. She had spoken out against the senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee,” stated the TMC chief.
An anganwadi employee and low-profile Bagh is presently a zilla parishad member of Hooghly district and chief of the TMC’s ladies’s wing at Goghat block II within the district.
Another sitting MP who was axed this time is Sunil Kumar Mondal, MP for Bardhaman Purba. A former Forward Bloc MLA for Galsi through the Left Front regime, Mondol sided with the TMC forward of the 2011 meeting polls. He turned an MP for the Bardhaman Purba twice: in 2014 and 2019. In December 2020 he shifted to the BJP together with Suvendu Adhikari. But quickly after the 2021 meeting polls, when the TMC returned to energy for the third consecutive time, he hinted that he was nonetheless with the TMC. (He by no means resigned as a TMC MP. So formally he’s nonetheless a TMC MP)
“The TMC’s district leadership wants to subdue everyone. Many good district-level leaders were removed. The persons whom Banerjee trusts the most are betraying her,” Mondal advised the media after he was dropped.
The chief courted controversy in August final yr when he was purportedly seen in a video pushing and threatening a toll plaza worker on the Durgapur Expressway. Even although he initially tried to downplay the incident, Mondal needed to later apologise.
This time the TMC relied on Dr Sharmila Sarkar as an alternative of Mondal. Sarkar is a psychiatrist by career and is hooked up to the state-run National Medical College and Hospital. Even although she doesn’t have a political background, Sarkar hails from the identical district.
Former IPS officer Chowdhury Mohan Jatua, the Mathurapur MP, was additionally dropped. TMC leaders, nonetheless, stated that the octogenarian chief and a three-time MP declined to contest citing his age. Even Mamata Banerjee was seen on some events enquiring about his well being. Young chief Bapi Halder has now been fielded from Jatua’s Mathurapur seat.
Halder is presently a karmadakshya within the South 24 Parganas zilla parishad and has been related to youth politics since pupil life. In 2008, he received the panchayat polls and have become the panchayat head at Krishnachandrapur village. He is thought to be near Saokat Molla, TMC MLA from Canning East. Molla is thought to be near Abhishek Banerjee.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
