Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leadership has nominated former Goa chief minister, Luizinho Faleiro for the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.
The announcement was made by the Trinamool Congress leadership through a Twitter message on Saturday morning. Last September, thespian- turned- politician, Arpita Ghosh resigned from the Upper house of the Parliament. Now, Trinamool Congress had nominated Faleiro for that vacant seat in the Rajya Sabha from the state. The polling for that vacant seat will be held on November 29, 2021.
Since the seat was vacated by Ghosh, several names were floating around. The most talked-about name was that of singer-turned politician and former BJP Lok Sabha member from Asansol, Babul Sypriyo, who recently joined Trinamool Congress and also resigned from the Lower house of the Parliament. However, on Saturday, Trinamool Congress brought an end to all the speculations by announcing the name of Faleiro for that vacant seat.
Currently, Faleiro is the national vice-president of Trinamool Congress. He was appointed for the post by the party leadership last month.
Also Read:Ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro, 9 others join Trinamool Congress
On September 29 this year, Faleiro came to Kolkata and officially joined Trinamool Congress. Six other MLAs from Goa also joined Trinamool Congress on the same day along with Faleiro. Before joining, Faleiro also went to the West Bengal state secretariat of Nabanna and had a detailed meeting with the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee.
At his joining function, Faleiro described Mamata Banerjee as a “street fighter” and said that only the Trinamool Congress can counter BJP nationally. The former Congress leader was also extremely critical of his previous party for its alleged lackadaisical approach in countering the saffron forces.
Faleiro is already in Kolkata on Saturday. Assembly elections in Goa are scheduled to be held early next year. So it is expected that his trip to Kolkata is to discuss the nature of the campaign and future programmes of Trinamool Congress in the backdrop of the Assembly polls in Goa.
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee herself made a three-day tour to Goa. During that tour, she held meetings with a number of local political leaders and the representatives of the civil society in Goa. Tennis star Leander Paes, actress Nafisa Ali and singer Lucky Ali joined Trinamool Congress during her tour. In short, Mamata Banerjee’s Goa tour was quite eventful.
Meanwhile, the state BJP leadership has ridiculed Faleiro for his Kolkata trip on Saturday. According to BJP’s national vice president and the former state president of the party in West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh, since the elections will be in Goa what will be the point in holding the meeting in Kolkata. “Actually, Faleiro knows it well that in Goa, Trinamool Congress will not have enough people to conduct meetings and hence he has come to Kolkata,” Ghosh said.
