Announcing its candidates for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the TMC decided to field Bhowmick, who is a state minister and the party’s MLA from Naihati, from the Barrackpore seat. Singh is among the seven incumbent MPs whose names did not feature in TMC’s list of nominees.

Singh had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. However, he joined the TMC in 2022.

Talking to reporters, Singh said, “I was told at the last moment that I was not getting a ticket to contest (the 2024 Lok Sabha elections). If the party had told me earlier, I wouldn’t have gone (to Brigade Parade Ground). When I joined the TMC, I was told that I would get a ticket from Barrackpore. I am not a seasonal fruit. I am someone who works 12 months round-the-clock.”

Singh said he had attended the rally at Brigade Ground as he had spoken to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and party second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee and “was hopeful about being a candidate”. “Anyway, Didi (Mamata) is my Guru. I will accept whatever decision she has taken. I had a word with Partha Bhowmick and I wished him great luck,” he added.

The Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency has a strong presence of Hindi-speaking voters, many of whom work in the jute mills. Singh, a heavyweight leader from the area, had been elected to the West Bengal Assembly four times on TMC ticket.

Before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he joined the BJP and defeated Dinesh Trivedi in a closely-fought contest but later joined TMC again.’