Kolkata: In a clear indication of frayed nerves, the BJP has decided to field four of its party MPs in the West Bengal assembly polls.
Babul Supriyo, the Asansol Member of Parliament, will contest from Tollygunge constituency; Locket Chatterjee, the Hooghly MP, will contest from Chuncura constituency; Nisith Pramanik, the MP from Cooch Behar, will contest in Dinhata; and Swapan Dasgupta, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP, will contest from Trakeshwar.
The Trinamool Congress jeered at the BJP for drafting movie stars and members of Parliament, including a Union Minister, for the elections, such was its apparent talent deficit and absence of robust candidates. "Loving this slow unfolding of the BJP Candidate List soap opera. More so when the '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.
Asked why the BJP was fielding MPs for the state elections and if she was upset, Locket Chatterjee told NDTV: The people of Bengal are the real candidates. We are just here to support them."
''Honoured to be nominated by the West Bengal BJP to contest from Tarakeshwar — a centre of Bengal’s cultural heritage. I look forward to the campaign for a new, vibrant Sonar Bangla, said Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta.
BJP West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh has been extremely critical of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for giving tickets to several Bengali actors, but on Sunday the BJP too found itself in similar terrain and doled out tickets to the likes of Yash Dasgupta, Tanusree Chakraborty and Payal Sarkar. Apparently, no party can do without the glamour quotient.