Trinamool Congress unveiled its roster of candidates from West Bengal for the upcoming elections, and it marked a significant shift with the exclusion of seven sitting Lok Sabha members from the list.
Among those omitted are Sisir Adhikari, representing the Kanthi constituency, and Dibyendu Adhikari, from Tamluk, both of whom share familial ties with Suvendu Adhikari, the current Leader of the Opposition.
The list also sees the absence of five other MPs: Arjun Singh, who previously held the Barrackpore seat in North 24 Parganas before switching allegiance from Trinamool to BJP in 2019 and back to Trinamool in 2022; Nusrat Jahan from Basirhat; Afrin Ali, also known as Aparupa Poddar, from Arambagh; Mimi Chakraborty from Jadavpur; and Chowdhury Mohan Jatua from Mathurapur.
Arjun Singh's former seat of Barrackpore will now be contested by state Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmik. Meanwhile, Mimi Chakraborty, expressing her desire to focus on her acting career, has declared her intention to step away from politics. Jatua, a former IPS officer, has been grappling with health issues, which has constrained his ability to engage in political activities.
Despite rumors of potential replacements for Saugata Roy from Dum Dum and Sudip Bandyopadhyay from Kolkata (North), both have been retained and will seek re-election.
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