leftist discards, turncoats from the Congress, new faces like Vaishali Dalmiya — daughter of late cricket czar Jagmohan Dalmiya, cricketer laxmi Ratan Shukla, former India soccer captain Baichung Bhutia and Bengali film star Soham are some faces who have won Trinamool Congress tickets in a ferociously competitive environment so to say.
But more than anyone else the re-nomination of chit fund-tainted and jailed Trinamool leader Madan Mitra, that seems to have raised many an eyebrow. “He is still an MlA and is popular in his constituency. He has expressed his wishes to contest and so he has been given a ticket” Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday.
Apart from him expelled CPI(M) veteran and former Bengal Minister Abdul Rezzak Mollah, has also been given a ticket from Bhangore constituency seat. While Bhutia will contest from Siliguri seat, Shukla will fight from Howrah and Dalmiya from Bally seats, Banerjee said. Soham a popular star will contest from Barjora seat in Bankura district.
“The Congress and the left have made an unholy alliance and the people will give them a befitting reply. If those CPI(M) and Congress workers feel that their parties had made ideological compromise then they are welcome in our party and we will gladly accept them,” Banerjee who announced her party’s candidate list said.
Incidentally all those leaders who had crossed over from other parties to the Trinamool Congress had been given a ticket, she said.