Kolkata, May 8 (IANS) Celebrity Bengali film, TV producer-turned-politician and former Trinamool Congress legislator, Raj Chakrabarty, has announced his permanent sabbatical from politics and has said that he will concentrate on his film career henceforth.

Chakraborty, who was the Trinamool Congress legislator from Barrackpore Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal from 2021 to 2026, was defeated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and senior counsel of Calcutta High Court, Kaustav Bagchi, by over 15,000 votes.

Chakrabarty has issued a social media statement about his quitting politics.

“Whenever I was given any responsibility in my life, I always tried to fulfill that responsibility with dedication and honesty. I tried fulfilling that responsibility to the best of my ability. As film director I tried to entertain the viewers through the movies directed by me. At times I have won and at times I have lost. I stepped into political life in 2021. People gave me the scope to serve them. For the last five years, I tried to fulfill my responsibilities as an elected legislator. The chapter ends in 2026. At the same time, my journey in the world of politics too ends,” write Chakraborty, the director of the popular Bengali OTT series of ‘Proloy, Abar Proloy’ and ‘Abar Proloy-2’.

In his message, he has also expressed hope that the new BJP-ruled state government will drive West Bengal towards prosperity and development. “The people of Bengal have given their verdict and a new government will be sworn in on May 9. I hope the state will move further on the path of development,” Chakrabarty’s post read.

Chakrabarty is the second celebrity politician from the Trinamool Congress camp to express a desire to keep away from political activities since the landslide defeat of the party.

Earlier, soon after the results were announced, actor-turned-politician and three-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Deepak Adhikari a.k.a. Dev, announced to the media that henceforth he will “shrink his political career and instead concentrate on his career of acting and film production”.

However, like Chakrabarty, he did not make any announcement of a permanent sabbatical from politics.

–IANS

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