Last Updated: March 10, 2024, 19:09 IST
The seat selection for Yusuf Pathan came after due consideration by TMC boss Mamata Banerjee, who was looking for a strong Muslim face to take on Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. (Image: @iamyusufpathan/X)
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced the names of candidates for all 42 seats of West Bengal on Sunday dropping seven incumbent MPs and introducing numerous new faces, including former cricketer Yusuf Pathan
BJP tore into TMC for fielding former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan from the Berhampore Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming polls saying the Mamata Banerjee-led party is bringing “outsiders” to fight in elections. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced the names of candidates for all 42 seats of West Bengal on Sunday dropping seven incumbent MPs and introducing several new faces, including former cricketer Yusuf Pathan.
BJP Reacts to Yusuf Pathan’s Lok Sabha Candidacy
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar pointed out that TMC candidates Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan aren’t from the state.
“Just half an hour before TMC’s list was announced, Abhishek Banerjee was making statements like the BJP is anti-Bengal. Now, when the candidates are announced, it’s clear that TMC is bringing people from outside. I don’t know if Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan are Bengali, Yusuf Pathan is from Gujarat, and so is PM Modi, but for them, PM Modi is an outsider,” he said.
#WATCH | Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas: West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar says, “Just half an hour before the TMC’s list was announced, Abhishek Banerjee was making statements like BJP is anti-Bengal. Now, when the candidates are announced, it’s clear that TMC is… pic.twitter.com/jDFEhPZOkv— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2024
“They (TMC) don’t have any candidates and hence they’ve given the ticket to a sitting minister. INDIA alliance is nothing but a ship without a captain. It’s CM Mamata Banerjee’s strategy and also she is in fear that no other leader gets much importance that one can become a bigger leader than Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, hence they give tickets to actresses so that her nephew continues to be a politician,” he added.
Congress Reacts to Yusuf Pathan’s Lok Sabha Candidacy
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury currently represents the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat. He has been holding the seat for years.
The Congress, however, hasn’t yet declared Chowdhury as its candidate for the seat.
“If TMC wanted to honour Yusuf Pathan, they should’ve sent him to the Rajya Sabha instead of sending ‘outsiders’,” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, adding that Mamata Banerjee should have asked the INDIA alliance to field him from Gujarat, his home state.
#WATCH | Murshidabad, West Bengal: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Chowdhury says, “If TMC wanted to honour Yusuf Pathan, they should’ve sent him to the Rajya Sabha instead of sending ‘outsiders’… If Mamata Banerjee had good intentions for Yusuf Pathan, she would have… pic.twitter.com/hbV3D42aTo— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2024
“If Mamata Banerjee had good intentions for Yusuf Pathan, she would have asked alliance (INDIA alliance) for a seat for him (Yusuf Pathan) in Gujarat. But here in West Bengal, he is selected as a candidate to polarise the common man and to help the BJP, so that Congress can be defeated… Mamata Banerjee has proven today that none of the political parties of India should trust a leader like her… Mamata Banerjee is in fear that if she continues to be in the INDIA alliance, PM Modi will be unhappy. By separating herself from the INDIA alliance, she has sent a message to the PMO, don’t be unhappy with me, I am not standing to fight against the BJP,” Chowdhury said.
