Trinamool fields former Indian soccer captain Biswas in bypoll

Former Indian soccer captain Dipendu Biswas will be the Trinamool Congress candidate for the Basirhat South assembly seat bypoll scheduled to be held next month, the party announced Sunday.

Biswas, 32, a product of the Tata Football Academy, captained the Indian under-19, under-21 and senior teams during his playing career.

He also turned out for leading club like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting and Mahindra United.

The Basirhat South seat fell vacant after the death of incumbent Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator Narayan Mukhopadhyay.

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Mukul Roy also announced that actress Nayana Bandopadhyay will be the party nominee for the Chowringhee assembly by-election.

Nayana, wife of Trinamool Lok Sabha member Sudip Bandopadhyay, was earlier a Trinamool legislator from the Bowbazar constituency.

The resignation of sitting Trinamool legislator Sikha Mitra has rendered the Chowringhee seat vacant. Sikha, wife of Congress leader Somen Mitra, left the Trianmool earlier this year after being a party dissident for long.

The elections to both the constituencies will be held Sep 13 and the votes counted Sep 16.

Another former Indian football team skipper Prasun Banerjee is now the Trinamool MP from Howrah constituency. Indian scocer icon Bhaichung Bhutia, who led the country's senior team for 12 years, lost the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat on a Trinamool ticket earlier this year.

In the past, Trinamool has successfully fielded actors like Dev, Moon Moon Sen, Sandhya Roy, Tapas Paul and Satabdi Roy. All of them are now Lok Sabha members.