Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest elections from Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency as Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate, according to the candidate list released by Mamata Banerjee’s party for all 42 Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal. The Berhampore seat is considered a bastion of Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury who has won five times from the seat. He is likely to contest the seat this time as well. Yusuf Pathan joined the TMC on March 10.
The TMC candidate list for the general elections was announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, in Kolkata on Sunday.
TMC supremo’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee will contest elections on the TMC ticket from Diamond Harbour. Whereas, former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest elections from Behrampore. There are high chances of a fierce battle between Pathan and Congress heavyweight Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
The party also dropped a few names from the list including actress Nussrat Jahan amid the Sandeshkhali row. In addition to this, ex-Congress leader Kirti Azad will fight the election from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency. Mohua Moitra has been repeated from Krishnanagar’s seat for the second consecutive term. Apart from Moita, 15 more sitting MPs have been renominated for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party has fielded a total of 12 women.
Sitting MP Nusrat Jahan has been replaced by former MP Haji Nurul Islam for the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, where Sandeshkhali is situated. The list was announced from TMC’s mega rally that was conducted at Brigade Parada Grounds in Kolkata. Speaking at the rally, Mamata Banerjee announced that her party will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone in all 42 seats in the state. Moreover, the party will also fight elections in Assam, Meghalaya, said the party supremo on Sunday. She also mentioned Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and said that her party is discussing the prospect of a seat-sharing agreement with SP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
