KOLKATA: Seventy-four MLAs were dropped and 15 of them were shifted from their existing seats in the list of candidates announced by Trinamool Congress on Tuesday, retaining 135 out of its 209 MLAs.
Among those dropped are big names like Partha Chatterjee (Behala West), Vivek Gupta (Jorasanko), Paresh Pal (Beliaghata), Asit Majumdar (Chinsurah), Chiranjeet (Barasat), actor Kanchan Mullick (Uttarpara), Mukutmani Adhikari (Ranaghat South) and Jiban Krishna Saha (Burdwan). Four ministers – Tajmul Hossein, Biplab Roy Chowdhury, Jyotsna Mandi and Manoj Tiwari – also didn't feature on the candidate list.
Three-time MLA Pal said the announcement came as a surprise, but he was okay to step back and make way for juniors. He was replaced by party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, who would be fighting his first election. "I have been an MLA for several years. If veterans like us don't step back, how can younger leaders come up and pave way for future? I will be helping Kunal," said Pal.
The churn has been particularly stark in Hooghly, where 10 of the 19 sitting MLAs have been dropped. In Uttarpara, actor-MLA Kanchan Mullick has been replaced by lawyer Sirsanya Banerjee. In Chinsurah, three-time MLA Asit Majumdar has made way for party spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya. Majumdar announced his decision to step away from active politics after being denied a ticket.
Veteran leader Tapan Dasgupta has been denied renomination from Saptagram, with the party fielding Bidesh Bose, a former MLA from Uluberia Purba. In Balagarh, the party has opted for a caste-calibrated shift, replacing Manoranjan Byapari with Ranjan Dhara.
In Malda, multiple MLAs have been reassigned to different constituencies within the district, indicating a tactical redistribution of candidates to optimise electoral outcomes.
Seeking to contain discontent, Mamata Banerjee urged those left out not to feel disheartened. "Those who could not make it this time will be given responsibilities in other party work. Some old and dedicated workers had to be left out to accommodate new faces," she said.
Sources in Kalighat indicated that the large-scale reshuffle was part of a calculated strategy to counter anti-incumbency. "Party surveys revealed that while the organisational structure remained strong in several constituencies, the personal popularity of certain sitting MLAs had declined. Hence, without taking a risk by retaining underperforming faces, we have introduced new candidates," said a veteran party official.
There are few candidates who have been shifted to new assembly segments this time — Ratna Chatterjee has been moved from Behala East to Behala West and Bidesh Ranjan Bose from Uluberia Purba to Saptagram. Minister Birbaha Hansda, earlier from Jhargram, will now contest from Binpur and Sabina Yasmin has been relocated from Sujapur to neighbouring Mothabari. Similarly, Amirul Islam moves from Farakka to neighbouring Samserganj.
In BJP's list, at least eight MLAs out of 70, including the noted economist and Balurghat MLA Ashok Lahiri, were not included in the first list of 144 candidates. Actor Hiran Chatterjee was also among those who were dropped from the list. "Ashok Lahiri is one of the most respected leaders in Bengal. It is too early to reach any conclusion," said a Bengal BJP leader. Among other notable deletions in the first list were Baren Barman (Sitalkuchi), Madhusudan Bag (Arambag), Biswanath Karak (Goghat), Baneswar Mahato (Balarampur), Bibekananda Bauri (Raghunathpur) and Soumen Roy (Kaliaganj).
Tamaghna Banerjee, a reporter from Kolkata, covers crime, aviatio...
Read MoreTamaghna Banerjee, a reporter from Kolkata, covers crime, aviation, human rights and politics. He has a keen interest in human interest and rural reporting. He has done his postgraduation in journalism and mass communication. He has a total of 14 years in journalism.
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