Kolkata: Trinamool Congress' (TMC) popular slogan 'khela hobe' (there will be game) seems to be perfect given the candidatures in a few of the seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling TMC has made a strong move by fielding former India World Cup-winning team members Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan from Burdwan-Durgapur and Berhampore seats respectively. Congress did a tit-for-tat, albeit in terms of campaigning. The grand old party's list of star campaigners in West Bengal includes former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Most political parties including the TMC and BJP have started campaigning with their 'star campaigners'. The Pradesh Congress too has roped in star politicians like Rahul Gandhi-Sonia Gandhi as revealed by party sources.
Congress submitted a list of star campaigners to the State Election Commission on March 27. Nearly 40 star campaigners have been listed for the first phase of polls on April 19.
National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's name tops the list. Then there are names of the three members of the Gandhi family, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. After which, there are names of KC Venugopal, Gulam Ahmed Mir, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. This apart, names of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ajay Maken, Salman Khurshid, Azharuddin, Sidhu and many others are mentioned in the list.
Similarly, the list also includes names of Congress candidates Pradip Bhattacharya and Nepal Mahato along with senior leaders Abdul Mannan, Manoj Chakraborty, Deepa Dashmunsi and Shubhankar Sarkar.
Even though the list was submitted to the Election Commission, several leaders of the state Congress did not wish to comment on the matter. "There is a meeting of the Pradesh Congress leadership on Monday. Before which, it cannot be said for sure whether Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge will come to Bengal or North Bengal before the first phase of polls," a Congress leader told ETV Bharat.
Interestingly, the list of names was initially shared on the official Facebook page of 'Indian National Congress-West Bengal' but the post was deleted after talking to the provincial leadership.
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