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Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Ramchander Rao on Monday lashed out at Trinamool Congress for branding the BJP as "outsiders" and said that the list of candidates released by TMC for Lok Sabha polls showed the "fear" of Mamata Banerjee of losing seats in West Bengal and that's the reason they have bought people from "outside."
Abandoning the Congress-led INDIA bloc, Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced its candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal for the upcoming general elections. "West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee branded the BJP as outsiders, coming from Delhi and other places and campaigning in the state and they (BJP) are basically against the people of Bengal. Now we have seen when the 42 members list was announced, she herself has bought people from outside the state, who are not at all having any connection with the state. Today they have been given tickets. This is given only because TMC is afraid of losing seats and they are trying to portray it as if they are going to win more seats by giving some seats to the celebrities who are not from the state" Rao said. He further asserted that the people of West Bengal would give their verdict in favour of the BJP and out of the 42 seats, the majority of the seats will be won by the BJP. "I think this time the people of the state would give their verdict in favor of the BJP and out of the 42 seats, the majority of the seats will be won by the BJP. TMC is going to lose very badly," he added. The BJP leader further said that BJP is going to win more seats in Bengal. "She (Mamata Banerjee) tried to prevent the central investigating agency, she tried to prevent the Human Rights Commission and Women Rights Commission, and also BJP leaders from entering Bengal many times, this time they will be restricted from entering Parliament. The people of Bengal will teach a lesson to Mamta Banerjee and TMC and definitely, BJP is going to win more seats in Bengal," he added. The list was announced by Trinamool General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee at Brigade Parade ground on Sunday. Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from Diamond Harbour. Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha in the Winter session last year has been given a ticket from Krishnanagar constituency. Meanwhile, Mukut Mani Adhikari who recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party has also been given a ticket from Ranaghat Lok Sabha seat. Shatrughan Sinha is set to again contest from Asansol, a seat he had won earlier in 2022 bypoll. TMC has fielded Jagadish C Basuniya from Cooch Behar, Prakash Chik Baraik from Alipurduar, Nirmal Ch Roy from Jalpaiguri, Gopal Lama from Darjeeling. Krishna Kalyani has been fielded from Raiganj whereas Biplab Mitra and Prasun Banerjee will contest from Balurghat and Malda Uttar respectively. The party also announced to field Shahnawaz Ali Raihan from Malda Dakshin. From Jangipur, Khalilur Rahman has been given the ticket to contest the polls. TMC leader Saugata Roy is set to contest from Dum Dum, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar from Barasat, Haji Nurul Islam from Basirhat, and Pratima Mondal has been given a ticket from Joynagar constituency. The Trinamool Congress kicked off the campaign for the upcoming elections through its show of strength. In the previous Lok Sabha polls, the TMC won 22 seats while the BJP sprung a major surprise, winning 18 seats. The Congress won the remaining two seats. In 2019, the BJP-led National Democratic (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the grand-old party behind at 52 seats. The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)
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