KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee did not follow the one-strategy-suits-all strategy while selecting candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections and opted for strategic candidates for seats that were represented by her former lieutenants who switched over to the BJP in the past few months.
She, herself, will contest from Nandigram in East Midnapore from where BJP’s star campaigner Suvendu Adhikari was elected on TMC’s ticket in the previous Assembly election and will now contest against the CM.
Sources in the party said Mamata adopted specific strategies for each seat from where prominent faces of TMC defected to the BJP as there are possibilities of the turncoats contesting from their old seats on BJP tickets in the upcoming hi-octane Assembly elections.
In Behala Purba seat, she fielded Ratna Chatterjee, the estranged wife of former Kolkata mayor and minister Sovan Chatterjee, who joined the BJP along with his friend Baishakhi Banerjee and is likely to contest from the same seat.
"Chatterjee publicly expressed his interest to contest from Behala Purba on BJP’s ticket. Just think about the contest. He will have to face his wife in the electoral battle of the constituency. Ratna is confident of her victory," said a TMC leader.
Similarly in Domjur, she decided to pick organisational hand to take on her former minister Rajib Banerjee who shifted sides and joined the BJP. Mamata’s candidate Kalyanendu Ghosh is believed to be the man who had scripted Banerjee’s victory.
"Banerjee had won in 2016 Assembly election but it was Ghosh who was the architect behind his victory. Ghosh had been sidelined because of the party’s infighting. His relation with Banerjee turned bitter after the previous Assembly poll. This time Mamata Banerjee picked up him to ensure Banerjee’s defeat," said another senior leader of the ruling party.
Insiders in the TMC said the CM is considering the contests in all seats, from where turncoats were elected, as her prestige fight and she chalked out the electoral game plan accordingly.
In Uttarpara Mamata’s choice is comedian-actor Kanchan Mallick, who joined the TMC recently. The MLA from the constituency, Prabir Ghoshal joined the BJP. He is likely to contest from the same seat and the riding Mallick’s popularity, the TMC is all set to build pressure on the saffron camp’s candidate.