As the names of candidates for Lok Sabha seats are being announced, dissatisfaction is beginning to emerge among the parties. Those who have not got tickets have started raising rebellious voices against the party. These rebellious voices have now started erupting within the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which has the highest number of 42 Lok Sabha seats after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. In such a situation, due to angry leaders, Mamata Banerjee is facing difficulties in preparing a strategy to conquer the fort of Bengal. And it is not that these voices of protest are emerging only in TMC, BJP is also facing similar problems.
There is dissatisfaction in both the ruling Trinamool Congress-TMC and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-BJP in West Bengal regarding ticket distribution in the Lok Sabha elections. Many leaders of both the camps have expressed their unhappiness over the selection of candidates for the elections. Many TMC leaders who wanted to contest the elections have openly expressed their unhappiness over not being given tickets from the seats they were eyeing. Similar dissatisfaction has been seen among some influential leaders in BJP regarding candidate selection. However, TMC and BJP are not paying much attention to the discontent amid the election campaign.
Tickets for 26 new faces
TMC has again fielded 16 of its 23 sitting MPs while canceling the tickets of seven sitting MPs. The list of TMC candidates includes 26 new faces and 11 candidates are experienced. Not a single candidate who lost on 18 seats in the 2019 elections has been given a ticket this time.
At least five senior party leaders, including Rajya Sabha member Mausam Benazir Noor and TMC spokesperson Shantanu Sen, have expressed dissatisfaction over not being given tickets. Benazir Noor was seeking ticket from Malda North and Shantanu Sen was seeking ticket from Dumdum seat. Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s younger brother Babun Banerjee has expressed his displeasure over not being given ticket from Howrah seat. TMC has again made sitting MP Prasun Banerjee its candidate from Howrah seat. After the tussle over the ticket, the Chief Minister has broken relations with his brother.
Former Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria joins BJP, may get Lok Sabha ticket from Ghaziabad
The fielding of former cricketer Yusuf Pathan from the Congress stronghold Baharampur seat sparked a debate within the TMC, with the party’s Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir criticizing the ticket to an ‘outsider’ and hinting at contesting the election as an independent. . However, after the intervention of TMC’s top leadership, Humayun Kabir changed his stance and decided to work for the victory of the party candidate.
On the other hand, Arjun Singh, the current BJP MP from Barrackpore, had joined Trinamool Congress two years ago and has returned to BJP after not getting the ticket. Similarly, four-time TMC MLA and ticket contender from Kolkata North, Tapas Roy, has joined BJP due to his displeasure over fielding five-time party MP Sudip Bandopadhyay from the same seat again.
TMC spokesperson Sukhendru Shekhar Ray said on the news of dissatisfaction in the party that this is not dissatisfaction but disappointment. He said that except Arjun Singh, everyone else is still in TMC and working for the party. He told that before the 2021 assembly elections, two-time MP from Bardhaman East Sunil Mandal had joined BJP but returned to TMC after the party’s defeat. He too has not been given the ticket and a new face in politics has been given the ticket from the seat.
Dissatisfaction in BJP also
Bharatiya Janata Party has so far announced candidates for 19 out of 42 seats in West Bengal. Union Minister and Alipurduar MP John Barla and Rajya Sabha member Anant Maharaj have expressed dissatisfaction over the selection of candidates for some seats in North Bengal. Barla is considered to have a significant influence on the Scheduled Tribe and the Maharaj on the Rajbanshi community.
From Alipurduar, BJP has given ticket to the party’s Chief Whip in the Assembly Manoj Tigga in place of John Barla, while in Cooch Behar, BJP has again fielded Union Minister Nisith Pramanik. Maharaj, who played a major role in the Greater Cooch Behar state movement, had opposed his candidature. However, BJP is also trying to convince Maharaj and Barla. BJP state president Sukant Majumdar said that the party has talked to him and the issues will be resolved.
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Tags: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections, Mamata Banerjee, west bengal
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 24, 2024, 14:07 IST