The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday released the names of its star campaigners for Assam's Assembly elections taking place across 126 constituencies on April 9, with votes to be counted on May 4.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is one of the most prominent names on the 18-member star campaigners list, in addition to the TMC's All-India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, MP Mahua Moitra, and former cricketer and Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan, and Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha.
June Malia, Shatabdi Roy, Sayani Ghosh, and Babul Supriyo are some other prominent faces from West Bengal in the 18-member list.
However, this time, only Sushmita Dev and Dulu Ahmed have been chosen among the local cadre, while the three-time Ghatal MP and 'crowd puller' Tollywood star Dev (Deepak Adhikari) has not been included in the star campaigner list.
However, the CM Banerjee-led party has not yet announced its candidate list for the Assam elections.
The party plans to contest 51 seats in the state under its Ekla Cholo (walking alone) race, caught in between the ruling BJP alliance and the Opposition Congress alliance.
The TMC has suffered a crushing defeat over the past few elections, especially at the hands of the BJP, due to which Sushmita Dev declared this time that the saffron party was the number one enemy of the Trinamool Congress in Assam.
"We will not field candidates in seats where the Congress alliance has a strong candidate or is likely to win. We want to ensure that BJP does not benefit in any way," the Dulu Ahmed added, echoing Dev's statement, a Sangbad Pratidin report said.