Lok Sabha polls: Moon Moon Sen, other top Bengali actresses in TMC list of 42 candidates

The TMC supremo also announced that the party would contest elections from Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, and Andaman.

Mamata Banerjee at a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday. (Partha Paul)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced her party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, giving 41 per cent representation to women. While releasing the list of 42 TMC candidates, Banerjee said the elections would be challenging and the sole aim of the party was to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.

“There are some new candidates this time and some former candidates will not contest. We have fielded about 41 per cent women candidates this time, which is a record in itself. Earlier we had fielded 35 per cent women candidates. We want to win all 42 seats and our challenge is to remove Modi from power,” said.

তৃণমূলের ১০ বিদায়ী সাংসদ টিকিট পেলেন না, দেখুন তালিকা

The TMC supremo also announced that the party would contest elections from Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, and Andaman. She also expressed her desire to campaign in Varanasi, which is PM Modi’s constituency, if BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav invited her.

Mamata Banerjee at a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday. (Partha Paul)

She also announced that TMC had formed an alliance with the Binay Tamang-led faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for the Darjeeling seat, which was won by BJP last time.

“GJM leader Amar Singh Rai will contest the election from Darjeeling in TMC ticket. He will quit his party and join TMC to contest the polls,” she said.

State panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee will contest the Lok Sabha elections this time, Banerjee announced, and two Tollywood actresses — Nushrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty — have been made party candidates.

“Moon Moon Sen will be our candidate from Asansol (won by BJP’s Babul Supriyo last time) and Satabdi Roy from Birbhum,” she said. Subrata Bakshi, Sandhya Roy, Uma Soren, and few others will not contest this time.

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Lok Sabha elections in the state will begin on April 11 and polling would be held over seven phases, followed by counting of votes for all seats on May 23, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.