West Bengal: Pawan Singh Declines, Shatrughan Sinha to Contest Against SS Ahluwalia from Asansol Lok Sabha Seat
Kolkata, 10th April 2024: Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh declined to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Asansol constituency, leading to a shift in BJP’s candidate choice. Senior leader SS Ahluwalia has been nominated by the BJP for the position. Shatrughan Sinha, an actor and the Trinamool Congress candidate, would be a formidable opponent for Ahluwalia, who is currently the MP for Bardhaman-Durgapur.
Ahluwalia secured the seat from Bardhaman-Durgapur in the last election, narrowly defeating the BJP candidates by about 2,500 votes. This time, Ahluwalia is in the running for the Asansol seat since the BJP has selected Dilip Ghosh from Medinipur. In West Bengal, the BJP has been actively advertising candidates for 41 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats; a nominee for the Diamond Harbour seat has not yet been decided upon. Abhishek Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress has won the Diamond Harbour seat three times in a row.
Both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw wins for the BJP in Asansol, with Babul Supriyo being victorious. Nevertheless, Supriyo joined the Trinamool Congress after quitting the BJP and resigning as an MP in 2022. Shatrughan Sinha, the candidate for the Trinamool Congress, won the following by-election. On a Trinamool ticket, Sinha is running for office in the Asansol constituency once more.
After Pawan Singh turned down the BJP ticket for Asansol when it was first offered, there were rumours and discussions about who would be the candidate last month. The nomination of SS Ahluwalia as a result of Singh’s rejection was a major shift in the BJP’s West Bengal electoral strategy.
