The Trinamool Congress jeered at the BJP for drafting MPs, movie stars and even a union minister as candidates for the West Bengal elections as well as taking multiple rounds to announce its list of contenders. The BJP, however, brushed off the charge that the party lacked strong local candidates and said that the people of Bengal were “the real candidates”.
“Loving this slow unfolding of the WB BJP Candidate List soap opera. When ‘largest global political party’ lacks enough faces & strength to announce 294 names in one go for a state it claims it will sweep!” the party’s firebrand MP Mahua Moitra tweeted.
Parliamentarians including minister Babul Supriyo, Locket Chatterjee, Swapan Dasgupta and Nisith Pramanik were enlisted by the BJP on Sunday to contest the West Bengal elections that begin later this month, in the latest sign that the party is leaving no stone unturned in its high-stakes battle against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In their second list of candidates for the West Bengal elections, the BJP announced the names of 27 candidates for the third phase and 38 candidates for the fourth phase of polls. Last week, the BJP had released its first list of 57 candidates.
West Bengal will hold elections in record eight phases starting March 27 till April 29. Votes will be counted on May 2. The BJP has launched an all-out campaign to defeat two-time Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress.
