BJP Picks Ex Union Minister SS Ahluwalia To Take On Shatrughan Sinha In Bengal’s Asansol

The BJP on Wednesday announced the nomination of former Union minister SS Ahluwalia from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal.

Mr Ahluwalia would take on TMC’s heavyweight candidate and the party’s star face, Shatrughan Sinha, in Asansol, an industrial hub encapsulating the state’s coal belt.

The BJP had previously replaced Ahluwalia, the party’s sitting MP from the Burdwan-Durgapur seat, with former state president Dilip Ghosh as candidate for the constituency.

Mr Ghosh was, in turn, moved from his erstwhile winning seat Medinipur to fight for his prospects on Ahluwalia’s turf.

Although the BJP had initially announced the name of Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh as its candidate from Asansol, the seat remained unrepresented by the party till now following Singh’s refusal to contest from the constituency.

Although Mr Ahluwalia could not be contacted for his remarks, the state BJP welcomed his candidature.

“We are confident of regaining the seat from the TMC with an experienced leader like SS Ahluwalia leading the charge from the seat,” BJP Samik Bhattacharya said.

Former two-term BJP MP from the seat, Babul Supriyo, who switched over to the TMC in 2021, remarked that Mr Ahluwalia has been made a “sacrificial lamb”.

“Mr Ahluwalia is a nice person and a friend of mine. But, I think the BJP is making him a sacrificial lamb by sending him to Asansol, which is a lost cause for the BJP,” Supriyo, the state tourism minister, alleged.