KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday, November 13, 2021, nominated Luizinho Falerio — a former Chief Minister of Goa where the party is trying to establish its presence in next year’s Assembly elections — as its candidate in the Upper House of Parliament. Falerio joined TMC from Congress recently and was elevated as the party’s national vice-president.
The TMC has already started projecting Falerio as the face of the party in Goa. Election to a Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal is scheduled on November 29. TMC MP Arpita Ghosh tendered her resignation from the Upper House on September 15 and the seat has been vacant since then.
Criticising the TMC decision of nominating Falerio as Rajya Sabha candidate, BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in West bengal, said the state’s ruling party has deprived the people of the state by nominating an ‘outsider’ as a candidate for the Upper House.
Despite having near-zero presence in Goa, Mamata Banerjee's party has already started its political venture in the coastal state, with a slogan Goenchi Navi Sakal (new dawn for Goa) and initiated a high-decibel campaign, mainly overseen by election strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) team. Elections are due early next year.