Mamata nominated film stars because she is losing control, says Adhir Chowdhury

Chowdhury wondered why the Trinamool was ignoring its time-tested leaders who spent decades "fighting the Left Front when it was in power".

"Why is the Trinamool suddenly feeling the dearth of political personalities? Why are those leaders who struggled against the Left, got beaten up, but still fought, now being ignored? Who are these people who have emerged into the political world from the cine world?"

Averring that matinee idols and singers have failed to exert any influence in the state's politics so far, he said "it smacks off a political crisis."

Chowdhury said while the Congress too fielded non-political persons including cultural personalities in elections, "we never opted to nominate so many at the same time".

Reigning Bengali matinee idol Dev, film personalities Moon Moon Sen, Sandhya Roy, Tapas Pal and Satabdi Roy, former Indian soccer skippersBhaichung Bhutia and Prasun Banerjee, singers Indranil Sen and Soumitra Roy, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew Sugata Bose figure in the list of Trinamool Congress candidates announced by Banerjee here Wednesday.