West Bengal: BJP announces candidates for 10 Lok Sabha seats

KOLKATA: The BJP on Tuesday announced names for ten constituencies in West Bengal leaving two — Burdwan Durgapur and Purulia undeclared.


Matua Mahasangha leader Shantanu Thakur and grandson of the clan matriarch Binapani Debi was nominated to contest from the Bongaon constituency. Shantanu’s father Manjul Krishna, who was a minister in the Trinamool Congress government joined the BJP in 2015.

He dumped the party within a few months and wished to re-join the The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Later Shantanu mend the bridges with the BJP and invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to a rally organised by the Matua Mahasangha.

Trinamool Congress turncoat Humayun Kabir, and a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet had joined the BJP last year. Kabir, known as a Mukul Roy loyalist, had left the Congress to join the TMC in 2012. He later lost Rejinagar assembly bypoll making it difficult for him to continue as a minister.

In Howrah, where the BJP has started gaining ground off late, actor Joy Banerjee was nominated from Uluberia and journalist Rantidev Sengupta was nominated from the Howrah. Party’s vice-president Subhash Sarkar was chosen to contest from Bankura against Trinamool’s minister Subrata Mukherjee. Congress’ Balurghat leader Nilanjan Roy, who had joined BJP last year, was pitted from Diamond Harbour against TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee.