TMC star campaigners' list for West Bengal bypolls excludes Babul Supriyo, Nusrat Jahan

In a significant development to the upcoming bypolls for four assembly segments in West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) turncoat Babul Supriyo and actor-turned-TMC MP Nusrat Jahan found no mention in the star campaigners' list. Other actor-tuned politicians including Dev, Mimi Chakraborty, Raj Chakraborty, and Sayani Ghosh were included in the list. Nusrat Jahan had recently made headlines over her spat with estranged husband Nikhil Jain and later with rumours of her alleged relationship with BJP leader Yash Dasgupta. She was also seen actively campaigning for the party ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections held in March-April earlier this year. 

The bypolls are scheduled on October 30 in Kharadaha, Shantipur, Dinhata and Gosaba area of West Bengal. Prominent names that featured in the star-campaigners list along with Mamata Banerjee included Trinamool Congress general secretary and Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, veteran Trinamool leaders such as Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Sougata Roy, and Arup Biswas. 

BJP's star campaigners' list

Meanwhile, TMC's opposition in the state, BJP on Friday released its list of star campaigners for the upcoming bypolls. Party's National General Secretary Arun Singh sent a letter to the Election Commission and named 20 leaders, including Sukanta Majumdar, Dilip Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari, Smriti Irani Himanta Biswa Sarma, Giriraj Singh and Locket Chatterjee. The party has additionally directed several national executives for the campaigns. A party leader was quoted saying, 'this is probably the first time that so many people from West Bengal have been accommodated in the committee. It is a clear message to the state leaders that the party has its focus on Bengal'. 

ECI announces bypolls for several constituencies in Bengal

The Election Commission of India had earlier announced on September 28 for bypolls in three parliamentary and 30 assembly seats across 15 states and Union territories in India. The ECI announced bypolls for Badvel (SC) in Andhra Pradesh, Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur and Mariani, Thowra in Assam; Kusheshwar Asthan (SC) and Tarapur in Bihar; Ellenabad in Haryana; Fatehpur, Arki, and Jubbal- Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh; Sindgi and Hangal in Karnataka; Prithvipur, Raigaon (SC) and Jobat (ST) in Madhya Pradesh; Deglur (SC) in Maharashtra; Mawryngkneng (ST), Mawphlang (ST), and Rajabala in Meghalaya; Tuirial (ST) in Mizoram; Shamtorr-Chessore (ST) in Nagaland; Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad (ST) in Rajasthan; Huzurabad in Telangana; and Dinhata, Santipur, Khardaha and Gosaba(SC) in West Bengal. 

Image: PTI/Nusrat Jahan/Facebook