Kolkata: Popular actress Rachana Banerjee, who had acted in several Odia, Bengali and Hindi movies, will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Hooghly in neighbouring West Bengal as a Trinamool Congress candidate.
Notably, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently featured in Rachna Banerjee-hosted reality show Didi No 1 Season 9. The 49-year-old had become a household name in Odisha in the 1990s with her movies opposite Sidhant Mohapatra with whom she subsequently tied the knot. They ended their marriage at a family court in Cuttack in 2004. Both have since married again.
Among her popular movies are Santan, Lakshman Rekha, Sakala Tirtha To Charane, Bhai Hela Bhagari, Lakhe Siba Puji Paichi Pua, Subhadra, Ganga Jamuna, and Pua Mora Bhola Sankar.
Former Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and Krishnanagar MP Mahua Mitra also figured in the list of 42 candidates announced by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee while addressing a mega rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade ground on Sunday.
According to reports, TMC’s roster of Lok Sabha candidates has give priority to individuals from scheduled tribe, scheduled caste, and adivasi communities, as well as women, newcomers, celebrities, and experienced performers. The party has renominated 16 incumbent MPs and introduced 12 female candidates into the electoral fray.
Pathan has been fielded from Baharampur, potentially against West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is known as a vocal critic of the CM. The Baharampur constituency has traditionally been a stronghold of the Congress, with Chowdhury representing it since 1999.
This particular seat became a sticking point in the seat-sharing negotiations between the Congress and TMC, as Mamata Banerjee was reluctant to cede it to the Congress.
Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha in connection with a bribe-for-question scam, will be vying for the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency. This is the same constituency that elected her to the Lok Sabha in 2019.
Another significant highlight from the party’s candidate list is the omission of sitting MP and actor Nusrat Jahan, who represented Basirhat, amid the Sandeshkhali row. The actor-turned-politician has been replaced by Haji Nurul Islam.
Actor Saayoni Ghosh is set to run for the Jadavpur constituency, stepping in following actor Mimi Chankraborty’s announcement to retire from politics.
FULL LIST
- Cooch Behar – Jagdish Chandra Basunia
- Alipurduar – Prakash Chik Baraik (Rajya Sabha member)
- Jalpaiguri – Nirmal Chandra Rai (MLA)
- Darjeeling – Gopal Lama
- Raiganj – Krishna Kalyani
- Balurghat – Biplab Mitra (minister)
- Malda North – Prasun Banerjee (former IPS officer)
- Malda South – Shanawaz Ali Rehman
- Jangipur – Khalilur Rehman
- Baharampur – Yusuf Pathan (Former Indian cricketer)
- Murshidabad – Abu Taher Khan
- Krishnanagar – Mahua Moitra
- Ranaghat – Mukut Mani Adhikari (BJP MLA)
- Bangaon – Biswajit das
- Barrackpore – Partha Bhowmick (minister)
- Dum Dum – Saugata Roy (MP)
- Barasat – Kakali Ghosh Dastidar (MP)
- Basirhat – Haji Nurul Islam
- Joynagar – Pratima Mondal
- Mathurapur – Bapi Haldar
- Diamond Harbour – Abhishek Banerjee
- Jadavpur- Saayoni Ghosh (youth TMC president)
- Kolkata South – Mala Roy (MP)
- Kolkata North – Sudip Bandopadhyay (MP)
- Howrah- Prasun Banerjee (MP)
- Uluberia- Sajda Ahmed
- Srirampur – Kalyan Banerjee (MP)
- Hooghly- Rachana Banerjee (Actor)
- Arambagh- Mitali Bagh
- Tamluk – Debangshu Bhattacharya
- Kanthi – Uttam Barik
- Ghatal – Dipak Adhikari (MP)
- Jhargram – Kalipada Soren
- Medinipur – June Maliah (MLA)
- Purulia – Shantiram Mahato
- Bankura – Arup Chakraborty (MLA)
- Bishnupur – Sujata Mondal Khan (incumbent BJP MP’s ex-wife)
- Burdwan – Dr Sharmila Sarkar
- Burdwan-Durgapur- Kirti Azad (ex-cricketer)
- Asansol – Shatrughan Sinha (MP)
- Bolur – Asit Mal (MP)
- Birbhum – Shatabdi Roy (MP)
“The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after Trinamool announced 42 names for 42 constituencies leaving no room open for an alliance.
Of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal, 32 are unreserved seats, while 10 are reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates and 2 are reserved for scheduled tribe (ST) candidates, respectively.