Former Cricketers, TV Star & Some Old Faces: TMC's Bengal List For Lok Sabha Elections Decoded

The Trinamool Congress maintained a blend of experienced leaders and fresh talent retaining 16 of 23 sitting MPs including some big names like Mahua Moitra and Abhishek Banerjee.

File photo of TMC Lok Sabha candidates- Yusuf Pathan, Mohua Moitra, Abhishek Banerjee and Kirti Azad.

Source : PTI & Twitter

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday announced the candidate list for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, naming Yusuf Pathan, Kriti Azad, Haji Nurul Islam, and Mahua Moitra among others. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party retained 16 out of 23 sitting MPs in the state, while dropping some of the candidates including Nusrat Jahan and BJP defector Arjun Singh. TMC made the candidate announcement for all the seats in Bengal, leaving no room for the I.N.D.I.A. ally Congress. 

Here are some of the takeaways from the latest seat announcement in Bengal:

- Yusuf Pathan: The TMC has announced former Team India cricketer Yusuf Pathan as the Lok Sabha candidate from Baharampur. However, the seat has been a Congress stronghold represented by veteran leader and West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Pathan, born in Gujarat's Baroda has been admired for being an aggressive all-rounder, retired from all forms of cricket in February 2021.

- Mahua Moitra: Mahua Moitra, who was recently in the news for the alleged bribe-for-question scam has also figured in the list of 42 candidates. Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December last year in connection with the bribe-for-question scam, will fight from the Krishnanagar seat. Mamata Banerjee had made it clear that she would renominate Moitra from the Krishnanahar seat following the MP's expulsion from the Lok Sabha.  

- Nusrat Jahan: West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday dropped MP Nusrat Jahan from contesting the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections amid the Sandeshkhali row, while it gave out a ticket to expelled MP Mahua Moitra for the Krishnanagar constituency. The party has fielded Nurul Islam, who represents the Haroa constituency, in place of Nusrat Jahan in the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat. Sandeshkhali comes under the Basirhat constituency. 

- Kirti Azad: Kirti Azad has been fielded by Mamata's party from the Durgapur seat. Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kirti Azad contested from Dhanbad seat, but lost to BJP MP Pashupati Nath Singh, who has won the seat thrice. Azar, a former India cricketer is the son of former Bihar CM Bhagwat Jha Azad, has been three-time Lok Sabha MP from Darbhanga on a BJP ticket. He was suspended from the BJP in 2015 and joined the Congress in 2019 and then the TMC in November 2021. 

- Abhishek Banerjee: TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will retain the Diamond Harbour seat, which he has held since 2014. Abhishek Banerjee is widely regarded as the party's second-in-command and has been BJP's prime political target over nepotism and corruption.

- Rachana Banerjee: TMC announcing Rachana Banerjee, who has been fielded against Locket Chatterjee, also a former actor and incumbent BJP MP from the Hooghly seat. The announcement comes days after CM Mamata Banerjee appeared on Didi No 1, a popular TV show that the actor has been hosting for several years.

- Saayoni Ghosh: - Mamata's party has fielded Actor-cum-politician Saayoni Ghosh from Jadavpur after replacing the sitting MP and her Bengali film industry colleague Mimi Chakraborty. Ghosh will take on BJP candidate Anirban Ganguly, an important leader of the saffron camp. Ghosh became a part of Mamata's core team in 2021 and unsuccessfully contested from the Asansol South assembly seat where she lost to BJP's Agnimitra Paul.

- Nine MLAs To Contest Lok Sabha: Nine Bengal MLAs have been nominated for the Lok Sabha polls including BJP defectors Biswajit Das and Mukutmani Adhikari, who will contest from Bongaon and Ranaghat, strongholds of the Matua community, which the TMC lost to the BJP in 2019.

- New Faces: The TMC has also introduced fresh faces in the upcoming elections including Saayoni Ghosh, Debangshu Bhattacharya, Gopal Lama, MLA June Maliah, Bapi Haldar and actress Rachana Banerjee from the seats of Jadavpur, Tamluk, a stronghold of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Darjeeling and Medinipur respectively.