Protests erupt in West Bengal over BJP's LS poll candidate selection

Protests erupted in various parts of West Bengal after the BJP, in its first list of 28 candidates, nominated its veterans and defectors from the ruling Trinamool Congress to take on Mamata Banerjee's party in the state.

With old-timers being overlooked in favour of turncoats and newcomers, protestors gathered outside BJP offices in various parts of the state and, in some places, put up posters of rejected ticket aspirants outside the offices.

BJP state vice-president Raj Kamal Pathak submitted his resignation after he was denied a party ticket.

The saffron party, which bagged two Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2014 elections, is now targeting 23 of the state's 42 constituencies.

Of its 28 candidates, nearly 25 are new faces, with a thrust on active political workers rather than greenhorns from the glamour world.

Unlike the TMC which had 18 new faces and a mix of