Calcutta:
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy expressed confidence ahead of the upcoming general elections and said he will do his best to win for the fourth time after his candidature was announced by Dum Dum on Sunday.
TMC MP Saugata Roy said, “Every election is a challenge. We have to go to the people. I have won (Dum Dum) three times from here and will try my best to win for the fourth time.”
Exiting the Mallikarjun Kharge-led INDIA bloc, the Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced its candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal for the upcoming general elections.
Party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee gave the message that TMC would go solo in the Lok Sabha polls and announced the list with certain surprises of former cricketers Yusuf Pathan from Berhampore and Kirti Azad from Bardhaman Durgapur Lok Sabha seat.
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar raised questions over TMC's decision to field Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad.
“Just half an hour before TMC's list was announced, Abhishek Banerjee made statements that the BJP is anti-Bengal. Now that the candidates are being announced, it is clear that TMC is bringing in people from outside. I don't know about Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan are Bengali, Yusuf Pathan is from Gujarat, and so is PM Modi, but for them PM Modi is an outsider,” he said.
The list was announced by Abhishek Banerjee at the Brigade Parade ground on Sunday.
Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, will contest from Diamond Harbour.
Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha during the winter session last year, has been given a ticket from Krishnanagar constituency.
Meanwhile, Mukut Mani Adhikari, who recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party, has also been given a ticket for the Ranaghat Lok Sabha seat.
Shatrughan Sinha will once again contest from Asansol, a seat he had won in the 2022 elections earlier.
TMC has fielded Jagadish C Basuniya from Cooch Behar, Prakash Chik Baraik from Alipurduar, Nirmal Ch Roy from Jalpaiguri and Gopal Lama from Darjeeling.
Krishna Kalyani has been fielded from Raiganj, while Biplab Mitra and Prasun Banerjee will contest from Balurghat and Malda Uttar respectively.
Announcing the candidates, the Trinamool Congress said the ruling party in Bengal will support the common people as part of its commitment.
“Under the leadership of Chairman @MamataOfficial, we are pleased to announce the names of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. We are steadfast in our commitment to assist the common people in the fight against the hardship imposed by the Central Government. By confronting the @BJP4India jomidars head-on and responding in the language they understand best, the Twin Flower is people's only choice!,” TMC posted on X.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also shared the stage when the list was released, claimed that her party will contest elections in multiple states in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“TMC will contest the elections against the BJP, Congress and CPM in West Bengal. TMC will fight alone here in Bengal. TMC will also fight in Assam, Uttar Pradesh. There has been a discussion with Samajwadi leader Akhilesh Yadav for one seat. We will fight in Meghalaya too,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress launched the campaign for the upcoming elections with a show of strength.
In the previous Lok Sabha polls, the TMC won 22 seats, while the BJP pulled off a major surprise and won 18 seats.
The Congress won the remaining two seats. In 2019, the BJP-led National Democratic (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the old party with 52 seats.
The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in April-May this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)