Kolkata, 9 March (HS): As expected Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced the names of its four candidates for Rajya Sabha seats of the party which is going to be vacant very soon.
Announcing the names of party candidates through a message in her twitter handle, Chief minister and Party supremo Mamata Banerjee has said, “I am glad to announce that All India Trinamool Congress will be nominating Arpita Ghosh, Mausam Benazir Noor, Dinesh Trivedi and Subrata Bakshi to the Rajya Sabha. As a part of my constant endeavour towards woman empowerment, I am proud that half of our nominations are women.”
Of the four candidates, except party founder member and its General Secretary Subrata Bakshai, all three others had lost the last year’s Lok Sabha elections from Dinajpur, Malda and Barrackpore seats respectively to BJP by huge margin.
Bakshi, a former Rajya Sabha MP, however, denied to fight the 2019 Lok Sabha poll despite request by the Chief minister and wanted to concentrate in party organisational work.
As TMC has enough number of votes for the election of all these four candidates in Rajya Sabha comfortably, it is not yet known whether the party would also put up candidate for the fifth vacant seat from the state because of its having some additional votes or leave the seat for the opposition Left Front and Congress alliance.
