Lok Sabha elections 2024: In Bengal, retired judge versus 'Khela Hobe' writer, 'Queen Mother' against Mahua Moitra

A seat to watch out for in this year's Lok Sabha elections will be Tamluk in West Bengal. BJP has fielded former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay and the Trinamool has picked the head of its social media cell, Debangshu Bhattacharya, the man credited for the party's viral 2021 campaign song 'Khela Hobe'.

Bhattacharya, a member of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, has been handling the party's social media since 2022. 

The BJP has pitted 'rajmata' (Queen Mother) Amrita Roy against Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra in Bengal's Krishnanagar constituency. Amrita Roy is the rajmata of the 'rajbari' (Bengali term for royal palace) of Krishnanagar. 

Six-time Trinamool Congress legislator Tapas Roy, who recently resigned from his membership in the state assembly and joined BJP, has been fielded from Kolkata-Uttar Constituency.

While Trinamool Congress has re-nominated its sitting MP Sudip Bandopadhyay from there, the Left Front-supported Congress candidate in that constituency is former party Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya. For Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, the BJP has nominated Arjun Singh, who is also the sitting MP from that constituency.

He got elected as a BJP candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Barrackpore and in 2022, he joined the Trinamool Congress.

However, as the ruling party did not nominate him from Barrackpore this time, he went back to BJP again and got nominated.

The surprise change in place of nomination was that of the party's former national vice-president and state president in West Bengal Dilip Ghosh, who is the sitting BJP Lok Sabha member from Medinipur constituency.

Dilip Ghosh, this time, was nominated from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency in West Burdwan district replacing the sitting party Lok Sabha member from there, S.S. Ahluwalia.

Fashion designer-turned-politician and BJP legislator from Asansol (South) Assembly constituency Agnimitra Paul is the party candidate from Medinipur.