Trinamool fields Subrata Bakshi for Lok Sabha by-poll

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress state president Subrata Bakshi will be the party's candidate for the Lok Sabha by-election from South Kolkata to be held Nov 30, party chairperson Mamata Banerjee announced Wednesday.

"We have decided that Subrata Bakshi will contest from the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat. He resigned from his Bhowanipore assembly seat to make way for my entry to the assembly. So I have decided to give him a chance to go back to his voters," said Banerjee while addressing a special session of the party.

Bakshi, who holds dual portfolios of transport and public works department in the state cabinet, has been one of the loyal lieutenants of Banerjee since the early 1990s.

Banerjee has been winning elections from this South Kolkata Lok Sabha since 1991.

The Lok Sabha constituency fell vacant after Banerjee resigned as MP and successfully fought the assembly by-election from Bhowanipore for her maiden entry into the state legislature.

The constituency, which houses Banerjee's spartan residence in a dingy lane of Kalighat, is considered her pocket borough as it has been a traditional support base of the Trinamool Congress.

Banerjee had won by a whopping margin of 219,571 votes over Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Rabin Deb in the 2009 general elections.