As the Trinamul Congress (TMC) gears up for the next Assembly elections, as many as 16 party leaders are reportedly vying for the Ratua Assembly seat in Malda district, considered one of the party’s safest constituencies.
The information was disclosed by Ratua MLA Samar Mukherjee, who told reporters that a large number of party leaders have expressed interest in contesting from his seat. He also revealed that former English Bazaar MLA Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury is among those keen on shifting to Ratua.
According to Mr Mukherjee, Prasun Banerjee, who had contested the last Lok Sabha elections from North Malda, and youth leader Ashish Kundu are also aspirants for the Ratua seat.
“Ratua is undoubtedly a safe seat for the TMC, but it is meant for Samar Mukherjee and not for others,” the MLA said.
Reacting to the developments, Mr Choudhury declined to comment on any plan to move from English Bazaar to Ratua, stating that no decision has been finalised. “The final call on candidates will be taken by party chief Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malda district TMC president Rahim Boxi dismissed speculation that party leaders were reluctant to contest from English Bazaar. “We have several capable candidates for English Bazaar. The TMC is confident of defeating the BJP there in the 2026 Assembly elections, as well as in other seats won by the BJP in 2021,” he said, adding that nominations would be finalised by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
Similar intra-party activity has also been reported from the Matigara–Naxalbari Assembly constituency in Darjeeling district, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Former MLA Shankar Malakar, who had won the seat on a Congress ticket earlier but lost to BJP’s Anandamay Barman in 2021, has recently joined the TMC and begun outreach programmes in the constituency to strengthen his claim.
However, he faces competition from Dilip Barman, a TMC councillor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, who is projecting himself as a Rajbanshi candidate and has intensified social service activities across the Matigara –Naxalbari segment.
While Mr Barman is awaiting the party’s candidate list, Mr Malakar has been publicly asserting his claim, citing his previous experience as MLA and recent organisational work in the area.