TMC chief allots seat to NCP

“It has been decided to allot NCP the Dinhata seat in Coochbehar district where we have already named Mihir Goswami as our party candidate,” TMC  spokesperson and Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy said here. 

“An alliance with the NCP was struck on Tuesday after discussions between Banerjee and Pawar,” he added.

In the 2006 Assembly polls, Ashok Mondal of TMC won the Dinhata seat, bordering Bangladesh,  defeating Udayan Gupa of Forward Bloc, a Left Front constituent. Mondal was not renominated by the party this time and Gowswami was fielded in his place.

By conceding a ‘winnable’  seat to one of the UPA allies, Banerjee sent a categorical signal to the Congress that she would love to broaden her base at the Centre.