Kolkata: Trinamul Congress on Sunday fielded four such candidates in a mixed bag of old and new faces from West Bengal for the Rajya Sabha (RS) Election on February 27 that it can attract votes of their backgrounds in the Lok Sabha (LS) polls months later. Among them, three are women who replace male TMC MPs– Dr Santanu Sen, Abir Ranjan Biswas and Suvashis Chakraborty in the Upper House. These three women faces are Mamata Bala Thakur, party’s former LS MP of Bongaon from the Matuas, a community of Hindu migrants; Sagarika Ghose, a journalist with a staunch liberal voice at the national level and former TMC RS MP and party spokesperson Sushmita Dev from Assam. The fourth candidate is Nadimul Haque, a Urdu journalist from the Muslim community who was TMC RS member on the last two terms at a stretch. TMC posted on X, “We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections. We extend our heartfelt wishes to them and may they work towards upholding Trinamool’s enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the rights of every Indian.” The four candidates are expected to file their nominations at the Assembly on Monday. According to TMC insiders, Ms Thakur was nominated for the Upper House to woo the Matuas ahead of the LS polls as the BJP, already having a LS MP Shantanu Thakur and an MLA Subrata Thakur from the same family of the community, has started playing the CAA-card again to pull votes. Ms Thakur is also the aunt of Santanu, a union minister and Subrata who hold key positions in the All India Matua Mahasangha, the apex forum of the community. On the other hand, Ms Dev, who is from Silchar, has been renominated by the TMC since her previous term lasted for only one year and a half. She wrote on X, “I am indebted to my leader @MamataOfficial for this opportunity to represent @AITCofficial in the Rajya Sabha. I have no words to express my heartfelt gratitude to @abhishekaitc for his support. My party sets yet another milestone in giving Women representation in the legislature. This is path breaking for the North East to get a seat in the upper house from Bengal, again.”
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