The CPI(M) could be springing a few surprise candidates in the coming lok Sabha elections from West Bengal. Among those who could be fielded by the Red outfit is Subhasini Ali, the daughter of laxmi Sehgal and a former party MP from Kanpur. Ali in all likelihood would be fielded from Barrackpore which means the former local MP Tarit Topdar will get the axe.
Incidentally the ruling Trinamool Congress is also unlikely to field sitting MP Dinesh Trivedi from this constituency. In fact Trivedi is among those 4-5 sitting parliamentarians whose chances of getting a ticket are dim, party insiders said.
As then Railway Minister Trivedi had defied Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s instructions not to raise a single paisa in passenger fare. Apart from Ali the CPI(M) — which will contest from 32 of 42 seats leaving the rest to the allies — has a few more surprise faces.
These candidates are likely to contest from Kolkata North and South seats taking the number of women contesting from the party to three. While present Kolkata Corporation Opposition leader Rupa Bagchi who is also a former MlA will contest from Kolkata North seat, a Jadavpur University professor Nandini Mukherjee will file her nomination from Kolkata South seat which had continuously been held by Mamata Banerjee since 1991 till she became the Chief Minister. Currently Subroto Bakshi is the Trinamool MP from the constituency.
Sources in the Trinamool Congress said Chief Minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee could be fielded from his aunt’s old constituency of South Kolkata making it more difficult for the left to wrest the seat back from the ruling party. This seat was won by Jansangh founder Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the fifties.
Elsewhere from Dum Dum seat currently held by Trinamool MP Saugato Roy the left is going to nominate former State Finance Minister Dr Asim Dasgupta. Incidentally Roy had won the seat by a narrow margin in 2009. The pitch here is
likely to be further queered for the Trinamool as BJP has a sizeable presence in the area with former Union Minister Tapan Sikdar winning the seat in 1999.
Another former State Minister Debesh Das is likely to be fielded from Bongaon from where the sitting Trinamool MP Gobindo Naskar is unlikely to get a nomination owing to his differences with the CM. Partho Biswas a CPI(M) youth leader will contest from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas insiders said adding the Jadavpur seat is being kept vacant for rebel Marxist leader and the party’s minority face Abdul Rezzak Mollah, sources said.