KOLKATA: India's ace footballer Baichung Bhutia isn't in the Lok Sabha fray. Trinamool Congress is no longer considering his name for the Darjeeling constituency following stiff opposition from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. GJM leaders expressed their reservation to Mamata Banerjee during her Darjeeling tour.
"First, Baichung is not a resident of the Hills. And second he is a footballer and not a politician. We gave support to Jaswant Singh last time because of his stature as politician. Baichung has no standing in Hills politics," said GJM MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri. Instead, the GJM is expecting Trinamool to reciprocate GJM's support to Trinamool in the Rajya Sabha polls from West Bengal. "Our party will be meeting on February 5 to decide its strategy and also the candidate for the Lok Sabha polls," Chhetri said.
But the Trinamool chief has no such reservation over giving ticket to professionals. According to party sources, a host of professionals from different sectors - doctors, actors, members of civil society - may show up in the Trinamool list when Mamata Banerjee announces the names of candidates from the Brigade Rally on January 30.
All eyes are now fixed on three constituencies - Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur and Kolkata South. With rebel Trinamool MP Somen Mitra dumping the party to join Congress, chances are that mayor Sovan Chatterjee may contest the Lok Sabha polls on a Trinamool ticket from this constituency. Mamata Banerjee has kept her cards close to her chest over candidates for Kolkata South and Jadavpur. The Trinamool chief may nominate Trinamool Yuva leader Abhishek Banerjee for Jadavpur or Kolkata South. In that case, sitting MP from Kolkata South Subrata Bakshi will shift to Jadavpur, party sources say.
The bid to induct new faces in the fray has made the defiant Trinamool MPs feel uneasy. Among them are former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi who ignored the party diktat on railway fares while placing the railway budget. So are actors Tapas Pal and Satabdi Roy who had to apologize to the Trinamool chief for sharing dais with Trinamool-turned Congress leader Somen Mitra at a blood donation camp in central Kolkata. With Congress veteran Debi Ghosal joining Trinamool, ahead of close on the heels of the Lok Sabha polls, party sources say that Ghosal stands a chance of getting a ticket from Barrackpore. Similarly, a renowned doctor from Kolkata may be nominated for Krishnagar where the BJP is likely to field a heavyweight. The Birbhum Lok Sabha seat may also go to a Tollywood actor other than Satabdi Roy.
Mamata is also keen on accommodating those candidates who lost the 2009 Lok Sabha polls by a slender margin. For instance, Trinamool candidate from Balurghat Biplab Mitra, who lost by only 5,000 votes, may be offered a ticket for the coming Lok Sabha polls. Other sitting MPs are likely to get tickets for the second time. There is hardly any confusion over Sudip Bandyopadhyay's contesting from Kolkata North. For Dum Dum, it's Saugata Roy though the MP is not keen on it. Some other MPs such as Kalyan Banerjee and Haji Nurul are likely to get party tickets.(TOI)
"First, Baichung is not a resident of the Hills. And second he is a footballer and not a politician. We gave support to Jaswant Singh last time because of his stature as politician. Baichung has no standing in Hills politics," said GJM MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri. Instead, the GJM is expecting Trinamool to reciprocate GJM's support to Trinamool in the Rajya Sabha polls from West Bengal. "Our party will be meeting on February 5 to decide its strategy and also the candidate for the Lok Sabha polls," Chhetri said.
But the Trinamool chief has no such reservation over giving ticket to professionals. According to party sources, a host of professionals from different sectors - doctors, actors, members of civil society - may show up in the Trinamool list when Mamata Banerjee announces the names of candidates from the Brigade Rally on January 30.
All eyes are now fixed on three constituencies - Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur and Kolkata South. With rebel Trinamool MP Somen Mitra dumping the party to join Congress, chances are that mayor Sovan Chatterjee may contest the Lok Sabha polls on a Trinamool ticket from this constituency. Mamata Banerjee has kept her cards close to her chest over candidates for Kolkata South and Jadavpur. The Trinamool chief may nominate Trinamool Yuva leader Abhishek Banerjee for Jadavpur or Kolkata South. In that case, sitting MP from Kolkata South Subrata Bakshi will shift to Jadavpur, party sources say.
The bid to induct new faces in the fray has made the defiant Trinamool MPs feel uneasy. Among them are former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi who ignored the party diktat on railway fares while placing the railway budget. So are actors Tapas Pal and Satabdi Roy who had to apologize to the Trinamool chief for sharing dais with Trinamool-turned Congress leader Somen Mitra at a blood donation camp in central Kolkata. With Congress veteran Debi Ghosal joining Trinamool, ahead of close on the heels of the Lok Sabha polls, party sources say that Ghosal stands a chance of getting a ticket from Barrackpore. Similarly, a renowned doctor from Kolkata may be nominated for Krishnagar where the BJP is likely to field a heavyweight. The Birbhum Lok Sabha seat may also go to a Tollywood actor other than Satabdi Roy.
Mamata is also keen on accommodating those candidates who lost the 2009 Lok Sabha polls by a slender margin. For instance, Trinamool candidate from Balurghat Biplab Mitra, who lost by only 5,000 votes, may be offered a ticket for the coming Lok Sabha polls. Other sitting MPs are likely to get tickets for the second time. There is hardly any confusion over Sudip Bandyopadhyay's contesting from Kolkata North. For Dum Dum, it's Saugata Roy though the MP is not keen on it. Some other MPs such as Kalyan Banerjee and Haji Nurul are likely to get party tickets.(TOI)
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