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BJP names 157 picks for Bengal elections
The list included 19 women, seven Muslims and several actors, folk singers, scholars and footballers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced names of 157 candidates for the last four phases of the West Bengal elections, triggering protests and confusion in some districts.
The party fielded its vice president Mukul Roy from Krishnanagar Uttar. Roy is contesting the assembly polls after two decades. The last time he had contested the polls was in 2001 in which he lost. A former aide of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Roy joined the BJP in 2017 and is known as its chief strategist in the state. His son, Subhrangshu Roy, will contest from Bijpur in North 24 Parganas.
Senior party leaders Rahul Sinha and Samik Bhattarcharya will contest from Habra and Rajarhat-Gopalpur, respectively, both in Noth 24 Pargans.
The list included 19 women, seven Muslims and several actors, folk singers, scholars and footballers. One sitting parliamentarian Jagannath Sarkar was fielded from Santipur in Nadia. The party also fielded Jitendra Tiwari from Pandabeshwar in Paschim Bardhaman. Tiwari, a former TMC legislator who rebelled against the TMC, made a U-turn in December but finally joined the BJP earlier this month.
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From Hemtabad in Uttar Dinajpur district, the party fielded Chandima Roy, wife of former BJP MLA Debendranath Roy, who was found dead in July last year, trigerring allegations that he was killed for political reasons.
Soon after the announcement of candidates, protests erupted in multiple constituencies including Jagaddal, Malda, Durgapur and Jalpaiguri. IN Malda and Jalpaiguri, BJP workers ransacked party offices, in North 24 Parganas, posters of BJP MPs were torn and set on fire on the road. Earlier this week too, the party faced a backlash from some leaders and workers, who protested outside the party headquarters in Kolkata against TMC turncoats being given tickets.
There was confusion too.
Sikha Mitra, whose name announced for the Chowringhee seat, refused to contest. “I told them (BJP) that I am not going to contest the elections. They didn’t even consult me and suddenly announced my name. This is very bad and not done,” said Mitra, wife of former West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra.
Another candidate, Tarun Saha, also refused to contest the polls from Belgachia – Kashipur, saying he had already informed the BJP. Saha is the husband of outgoing MLA Mala Saha, who didn’t get a ticket from the Trinamool Congress.
The TMC alleged the BJP lacked leaders and was giving tickets to people without their consent. “This shows that the BJP is giving ticket to anyone and preference is giving to people coming from other parties. They lack enough candidates. The TMC had announced all candidates in one go. BJP is doing it in phases. It is because they are just waiting to see if any other leader from any other party is joining the BJP,” said Debanhsgu Bhattavharya, TMC spokesperson.
The BJP said it will look into the matter. “We also need to speak to the BJP leader who was assigned to talk to Mitra and Saha and let the party know. The party will take necessary steps,” said Rahul Sinha, a senior BJP leader.
The party fielded actor Parno Mitra in Baranagar, actor Rudranil Ghosh in Bhawanipore, the former constituency of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The TMC has fielded party strong man Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay from the prestigious seat as Banerjee has shifted to Nandigram to take on her protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.
“The BJP is facing a backlash. Even though it is a regimented party, in Bengal it is not so. The party gave tickets to anyone who came from TMC. As a result protests had erupted,” said Amal Mukhopadhyay, political commentator and ex-principal of Presidency College.
Later in the day, nine more candidates were fielded for the fourth phase. Prominent among them were actor Srabanti Chatteerjee from Behala Paschim in South 24 Parganas. Baishali Dalmiya and Mihir Goswami were also given tickets from Bally in Howrah and Natabari in Cooch Behar, respectively.
