Kolkata: Veteran actor and Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan will campaign for chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, party sources said on Monday.
The 72-year-old, who is Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s wife, is expected to lead a roadshow in this city’s filmy hub Tollygunge in the southern part of the city later today.
TMC heavyweight and senior cabinet colleague of Mamata Banerjee’s close lieutenant Aroop Biswas is seeking his electoral fortune from his old seat of Tollygunge assembly constituency.
This time the TMC leader is facing an acid test at his home turf as BJP nominated singer turned politician Babul Supriyo from the constituency where he has considerable following.
TMC officials said that Jaya Bachchan will be felicitated at the TMC headquarters later today before she launches the roadshow at Tollygunge around 5 pm for fourth phase polling in the state.
The first two phases of the polls for 30 seats each were held on March 27 and April 1 and voting for the third phase held on Tuesday for 31 other seats in South 24 Parganas and parts of North Bengal.
Altogether eight phases poll are scheduled up to April 29 for altogether 294 seats and the results to be declared on May 2.
Jaya Bachchan is expected to participate in at least four roadshows on April 6 and 7 and may even share the stage with chief minister Mamata Banerjee in a public rally during her stay in the state till April 8.
The actor turned politician landed in Kolkata airport late on Sunday and was received by senior TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Chandrima Bhattacharya.
It is now to be seen how Jaya Bachchan can reconnect her link with this city to pursue voters to follow her after Bollywood superstar and Bengal boy Mithun Chakraborty became a hit in all his roadshows for BJP.
Mithun Chakraborty, who joined the saffron brigade in presence of PM Narendra Modi at the Brigade Parade ground rally on March 7, has become the biggest crowd puller among all other BJP leaders. (UNI)
