West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday announced its list of candidates for 42 Lok Sabha seats, giving 41 per cent representation to women, and including a number of Bengali screen celebrities like Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan.
Announcing the list, Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee said Harvard University professor and eminent historian Sugato Bose has opted out of the contest as "he did not get permission from his university".
In place of Bose, leading Bengali actress Mimi Chakraborty will be contesting from Jadavpur constituency.
Another popular actress Nusrat Jahan has been made the candidate from Basirhat, by dropping sitting MP Idrish Ali.
Bengali actor Dipak Adhikari (Dev) would seek re-election from Ghatal constituency.
From Howrah, Trinamool has renominated Arjuna awardee and former Indian football captain Prasun Banerjee.
For the first time, the TMC is fielding a candidate from Darjeeling hills - Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) sitting legislator from Darjeeling assembly constituency Amar Singh Rai.
“Amar Singh Rai, is a son of the soil…He is very talented and the people in the hills love him,” Banerjee said.
Former investment-banker-turned politician and a prominent TMC face on television channels and a party’s sitting legislator from Karimpur, Mohua Mitra will fight from Krishnagar.
Senior leader and minister in the Banerjee, Subrata Mukherjee, the sitting legislator from Ballygaunj will contest from Bankura Lok Sabha seat.
Mamata Bala Thakur, sitting lawmaker from Bongaon who represents the politically influential Mathua community will fight to retain her Bongaon seat.
From Malda Uttar, former Congress lawmaker Mausam Noor will fight on TMC symbol this time.
Releasing the list, the West Bengal CM said, “We are going to win 42 out of 42 seats in Bengal.”
She also attacked the BJP and the Modi government, claiming she had information that "VVIPs" were using helicopters and chartered flights to transport money to bribe voters.
She also assailed the Centre over a host of issues including the Rafale deal, farm distress and shrinking employment opportunities.
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said the outgoing TMC lawmakers whose names do not figure in the list will be drafted for party work.
The TMC, she said, will also contest some seats in Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar and the Andamans.
(With inputs from agencies)
