The Trinamool Congress formed a 12-member committee on Sunday to prepare an initial list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The committee will also plan campaign strategies, party’s secretary general Parth Chatterjee said. However, the final decision will be taken by party chief Mamata Banerjee.
2 MPs, 10 Ministers
The committee comprises Ms. Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, general secretary Subrata Bakshi, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim and Arup Biswas, Suvendu Adhikari, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Sashi Panja, Moloy Ghatak, Jyotipriyo Mallick, Subrata Mukherjee, Derek O’Brien and Partha Chatterjee.
While Mr. Banerjee and Mr. O’Brien are Lok Sabha MPs, the other 10 members of the committee are Ministers in the State Cabinet.
Out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State, the TMC won 34 seats, the Congress got four and the BJP and CPI(M) won two each in the 2014 general election.
“The committee will look into election-related publicity and screening of applications of aspiring candidates in consultation with party chief Mamata Banerjee,” Mr Chatterjee said.
On the BJP, which has emerged as the main Opposition party in the State in terms of vote share in the 2018 panchayat elections, Mr. Chatterjee said the party indulges in creating division among people.
(With PTI inputs)