TMC announces candidate list; cricketer Yusuf Pathan, Kirti Azad among nominees

Kolkata: The TMC on Sunday announced the candidate list for all 42 Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal, dropping a few sitting MPs and bringing in several new faces such as former cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kriti Azad.

The Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced its candidate list for the 42 Lok Sabha seats and launched its poll campaign from the grand rally at Kolkata's famed Brigade Parade Grounds.

The party renominated 16 sitting MPs and fielded 12 women.

Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.

From the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, where Sandeshkhali is situated, TMC pitted its former MP Haji Nurul Islam by dropping sitting MP Nusrat Jahan.

The TMC also renominated expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar seat for the second consecutive term.

The list was announced from TMC's mega rally held at Brigade Parada Grounds in Kolkata, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the party will contest Lok Sabha elections alone in all 42 seats in the state.

The TMC boss iterated that her party, which is a partner of the opposition bloc INDIA, will contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal alone.

“We will contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal alone and will fight against the Congress, BJP and the CPI(M). We will also contest elections in Assam and Meghalaya. We are in talks with Akhilesh Yadav (of SP) for contesting one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh,” she said while addressing the 'Jana Garjan Sabha'.

Speaking at the rally, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lauded Election Commissioner Arun Goel who resigned from the post. She lauded him for "not succumbing" to the BJP’s pressure, and asserted that the saffron camp would be defeated in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee said the sudden resignation of Goel proves that the “BJP is attempting to loot votes in the Lok Sabha polls"

“I salute Arun Goel for not succumbing to pressure by Delhi leaders (of BJP) and his top bosses in connection with the West Bengal LS polls and the deployment of forces. It is proven that what they (the BJP-led NDA government.) want to do in the name of election. They want to loot votes,” she said.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His tenure was till December 5, 2027, and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired in February next year.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his allegations that central funds are being siphoned off in West Bengal, the TMC supremo said, “The PM must cross-check facts with officials before making baseless allegations against Bengal.".

“He is only inaugurating projects in Bengal but not releasing funds for the state. This is his guarantee. He has made all false promises,” she said.

Inputs from PTI