After ruling for 12 years without interruption and much hurdle ever since it came to power dislodging the CPI(M)-led Left Front in 2911, the Trinamool Congress has been advised to drop about a dozen sitting MPs in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
I-PAC, a professional consultancy firm providing electoral assistance to the ruling outfit for the past several years, is known to have advised the Bengal ruling outfit to drop at least ten sitting MPs, sources in the company say. However not all the senior leaders in the TMC are convinced with the I-PAC report.
According to sources among the senior leaders who may get dropped this time round are Saugato Roy a former Union Minister and three-time MP and TMC leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay --- a three-time MP from Kolkata North constituency. .
Roy who represents Dum Dum however would not like to comment much on the issue saying he was always there to serve his party and would contest if he was given a nomination. According to inside sources neither Roy nor Bandopadhyay are in the good books of TMC’s number two in command Abhishek Banerjee who is also the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
A third senior leader and all-weather companion of the Chief Minister Dr Kakoli Ghoshdastidar too may be dropped. Ghoshdastidar represents Barasat constituency, north of Kolkata.
I-PAC is also known to have suggested dropping the names of Howrah MP and former India footballer Prasun Banerjee. Arambagh MP Aparupa Poddar alias Afreen Ali is also likely to be dropped inside sources say.
Besides, the TMC is likely to drop four Bangla cine stars from Dipak Adhikari alias Deb who is an MP from Ghatal constituency. The reason behind Adhikari’s name getting deleted is anything but political sources say. “Deb had been repeatedly requesting the Chief Minister to relieve him from active politics as he wants to concentrate on his cinema,” said an I-PAC insider.
The three other cine personalities whose names may get dropped are Nusrat Jahan, the Basirhat MP who has been reported against for his invisibility from parliament. Apart from this, her name recently got embroiled in an alleged housing scam. Her Tollywood colleague Mimi Chakrabarty an MP from Jadavpur seat south of Kolkata may also be dropped, sources said adding she was not only not politically active but also remained absent from Parliament.
The third and more senior MP Shatabdi Roy may also get dropped, adding more for political reasons than anything else, sources said. Roy, a three-time MP from Birbhum, has been close to senior TMC leader Subroto Mukherjee and has steadily been losing her relevance in the party ever since his demise in 2021.
Apart from the above MPs two other TMC parliamentarians who would definitely lose their nominations are Contai MP and former Union Minister Sisir Adhikari and his son Dibyendu Adhikari. Sisir is the father and Dibyendu is the brother of Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader and Man Friday of Mamata Banerjee. Suvendu left the TMC just before the 2021 Assembly elections.
While it is not known what were the alternative names that have been suggested for replacing the MPs mentioned above, some senior leaders in the TMC said that Bandopadhyay and Saugato Roy could be saved at the last moment by a Mamata Banerjee veto.
In a lifetime performance the BJP had won 18 --- up from 2 seats in 2014 --- seats while the TMC had 22 --- a loss of 10 seats.
While the BJP has not been able to improve its situation from what it was four years ago the TMC too has suffered considerably in the wake of a series of recruitment and other scams related to hundred days’ work and PM housing scheme.
Both the Congress and the Left which suffered massively in the past elections have gained much ground giving the BJP a close chase with 21 percent of votes. BJP has gained 22 percent in the panchayat elections.