Actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty, who made a high-profile entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier this month, is unlikely to contest in the upcoming polls. The 70-year-old was missing from the list of candidates - likely to be the final list - released by the party on March 23.
The party named candidates for 11 seats and replaced the nominees announced earlier from two other constituencies. With this list, the BJP has declared its candidates for all the 294 assembly segments in West Bengal.
Speculations were rife that Mithun could be fielded as the candidate from Rashbehari seat in South Kolkata. However, the party fielded former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha from the constituency.
The chances of Mithun contesting in the elections, however, cannot be completely ruled out as the BJP may replace an existing candidate with him.
A former Trinamool Congress MP, Mithun joined the saffron camp on March 7 - when he shared the dias with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP's grand rally in Kolkata's Parade Ground.
The entry into the BJP was preceded by a meeting in February between Mithun and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat at the former's residence in Mumbai.
Although Mithun has not been named as a candidate so far, the actor will continue to remain one of the key campaigners of the BJP in Bengal.
On March 30, he would be present at the party's roadshow in Nandigram - where Trinamool turncoat Suvendu Adhikari is up against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected to lead the rally.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
