New Delhi, March 13 -- With the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha (LS) elections beginning to gather momentum, Hooghly, Ghatal, Tamluk, Berhampore, Diamond Harbour and Jadavpur are among the key LS constituencies which are to be watched out for.

Tollywood star Rachana Banerjee has been chosen as Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee's No. 1 pick for Hooghly, a seat known for her Singur movement. The host of the reality show Didi No. 1 has been pitted against BJP's Locket Chatterjee.

Rachana's candidature has been speculated on ever since the TMC supremo participated in the show. Rachana and Locket acted together in many films. The on-screen chemistry between the two actors might have won the hearts of many. But this time it is the off-screen fight which is expected to be a nerve battle between the two actors. Actor Locket Chatterjee won the Hooghly seat in the 2019 LS polls and has been nominated again. She has already claimed that she spent Rs 17 crore for the development of Hooghly. Some local residents have, however, alleged that Locket did not visit her constituency in the past 5 years. Locket defeated CPI(M) 4-term MP Rupchand Pal in 2019 by a margin of more than 70,000 votes.

It is to be seen if TMC's, Didi No. 1, Rachana, a debutant can come out victorious.

Rachana was introduced by TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as the "other Didi'' when announcing her name at the Brigade rally.

"I have been a TMC supporter for a long time. Although I was not into active politics, I am a fan of Mamata Banerjee as I believe in Nari Shakti and she is an inspiration for every woman," Rachana said after she was nominated. Locket reacted to it saying: "We have acted together in movies. But this fight is not between Rachana and Locket. This is about Mamata vs Modi."

Diamond Harbour constituency will always catch people's attention only because TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is contesting from there. Sitting MP Abhishek won the 2019 LS elections by a margin of 3,20,594 votes by defeating his nearest rival of the BJP Nilanjan Roy. Abhishek secured a total of 7,91,127 votes. Diamond Harbour on repeated occasions emerged as a model constituency on various parameters.

Abhishek had thrown a challenge to the BJP saying that no BJP MP in the country has been able to carry out so much development for his/her constituency as he did for Diamond Harbour. BJP is yet to announce the name of its candidate for Diamond Harbour.

The Ghatal constituency is going to be an eye-catcher as TMC's Deepak Adhikari (Dev) cine star has been pitted against another Tolly actor Hiran Chatterjee of BJP. Hiran, a current BJP MLA had earlier brought charges of corruption against Dev that had created a controversy. Dev won the 2019 LS elections by a margin of 1,07,973. He had defeated BJP's Bharati Ghosh.

Trinamool Congress' Youth leaders Debangshu Bhattacharya and Sayaoni Ghosh are contesting LS polls for the first time from Tamluk and Jadavpur respectively. Former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan is going to contest from Berhampore on a Trinamool ticket. He will be pitted against Congress' heavyweight leader

Adhir Chowdhury.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.