Mithun Chakraborty, the actor-turned-politician who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of PM Narendra Modi earlier this month, is missing from the list of candidates announced by the party for the upcoming Assembly elections. It was widely speculated that ‘dada’ would be fielded from the Rashbehari seat.

The BJP has instead fielded retired Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, who was posted in Kashmir when militancy was at its peak, from the constituency. With the list released on Monday, the BJP has now announced candidates for all 294 seats.

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Of course, Chakraborty’s name could still be announced, replacing an existing candidate. The polls in West Bengal are, scheduled across eight phases between March 27 and April 29. The last date of nomination for final phase comes around mid-April.  

Chakraborty is, meanwhile, scheduled to campaign in some key seats. On March 30, the actor will be in Nandigram to canvass for Suvendu Adhikari, who recently jumped the fence to move from the Trinamool to the BJP. He is pitted against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

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In his last political outing, Mithun Chakraborty was associated with the Trinamool Congress. Banerjee had nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in 2014. Reacting to his nomination, Mithun Chakraborty had told mediapersons, “I don’t know how to react. I can never be a politician. I have always stood by the people and their rights and I am going to do the same.”

The two-time Filmfare award winner, however, quit within two years citing health issues. But, the actor crossed over to the BJP just weeks ahead of one of the most closely-fought assembly elections in West Bengal.