Sonali Guha, Mukul Roy

Denied ticket by Mamata Banerjee, TMC MLA Sonali Guha all set to join BJP

TMC MLA Sonali Guha, who was denied a ticket by her party on Saturday, is ready to join the BJP.

BJP sources said Guha has had a conversation with BJP leader Mukul Roy and will formally join the BJP during the rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend on Sunday.

Guha, a four-time member of the Satgachia justice in South 24 Parganas, once a member of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s innermost circle. The TMC has announced the candidacy of Mohan Chandra Naskar from that seat.

Shortly after Guha was denied a ticket on Saturday, she broke down in tears and expressed disappointment at being removed from the list of candidates. “I just wish that Mamata’s good sense dawns,” he said.

Referring to Guha’s exclusion while announcing the list of candidates on Friday, Banerjee had said: “We were unable to give Sonali a ticket because she is unwell. It has a lot of sugar. ”

Guha was one of at least 28 Board members who have been denied tickets by the TMC this time, with the party led by Mamata Banerjee trying to project new faces.

Among the other members of the justice who withdrew are also Jatu Lahiri, Rabindranath Bhattacharya and Rafikur Rahaman.

Dissent is brewing among MLAs who are denied entry by TMC

Guha was not the only one among those who dropped to express resentment against the party. TMC’s Shibpur MLA Jatu Lahiri has been overlooked this time, with the match placing cricketer Manoj Tiwary from the seat.

Unhappy with the move, Lahiri told reporters that despite being a “loyal soldier” of the TMC, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ignored him.

“More than not getting the nomination, it hurts me that an outsider who has no ties to the electorate got the nomination within days of being included in the party. It seems that the TMC no longer requires us. I’m leaving the organization, ”he said.

TMC has nominated former cricketer Manoj Tiwary from Shibpur headquarters in Howrah. Lahiri, a veteran politician, also hinted that he might join the BJP. However, BJP sources said there was no information about Lahiri’s joining the party.

Denying seats to MLA led to protests from his supporters in different parts of the state on Friday.

In Natunhat, many party workers who have followed Arabul Islam, a TMC strongman and former Bhangar MLA, over the years blocked roads by burning wooden chairs and car tires in front of the TMC party office.

Similar scenes unfolded in Amdanga of North 24 Pargana, 35 km from Calcutta, where supporters of the two-time MLA Rafiqur Rahman blocked the NH-34 in protest after Rahman was denied a fine.

Traffic movement came to a complete halt for more than two hours and even when central security forces intervened, a group of men with TMC flags continued to raise slogans in support of Rahman.

There were also reports from party workers who were unhappy with TMC’s decision to introduce Omprakash Mishra, a professor of international relations at Jadavpur University who joined TMC in 2019 after a long stint in Congress.

Among the other great TMC leaders who were overlooked are Rabindranath Bhattacharya, Moinuddin Shams, and Dipendu Biswas.

In an indirect reference to TMC’s decision to present Becharam Manna from Singur and his wife Korbi Manna from Haripal, Bhattacharya said: “People from the same family were nominated in both constituencies. You can understand how the party is working. ”

Announcing the list of candidates at his Kalighat residence on Friday, Banerjee said that in light of the Covid-19 crisis, those over 60 have not been given tickets this time.

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