After Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Samajwadi Party (SP), the Shiv Sena on Thursday extended its support to the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, and said it would not contest Assembly elections in Bengal.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut today extended full support to Miss Banerjee- led TMC.

Raut tweeted, people are willing to know whether Shiv Sena is contesting in West Bengal poll or not. So update after discussions with party president Uddhavji Thackeray.

“Looking at this present scenario it appears like a “Didi vs All Fight. All M’s- Money, Muscle and Media are being used against Mamata Didi. Hence, Shiv Sena has decided not to contest West Bengal poll and stand in solidarity with her.”

“We wish Mamata didi a roaring success, because we believe that she is the real Bengal tigress.”

TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’ Brien retweeted the tweet by Raut.

“We welcome Shiv Sena’s decision. We are thankful to Shiv Sena for not putting up candidates in the assembly polls in West Bengal,” TMC MP Sougata Roy said.

The BJP, however, declined to attach much importance to the development.

“What is the stake of Shiv Sena, RJD or SP in Bengal? It hardly matters whom they support or not. It is laughable,” BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

A significant takeaway of the Shiv Sena, SP and RJD pledging support to Miss Banerjee is they are shunning Congress and siding with the TMC in the battle for Bengal.

Meanwhile, Trinamul Women Congress president Chandrima Bhattacharya today announced that on 8 March celebrated as International Women’s Day Miss Banerjee will hold rally in Kolkata from College Square to Esplanade.

Party sources revealed TMC chief may declare the candidate list of her party by tomorrow. There should be some surprises in the list, as many as 40 fresh faces may be given nominations especially in those Assembly constituencies where the sitting MLAs have defected to BJP.

The party may field Nirbed Roy in Dum Dum (North), Jyotipriya Mullick from Habra, Bratya Basu from Dum Dum (South), Nayana Bandopadhyay in Chowringhee, Aroop Biswas in Tollygunge. State power minister and Rashbehari MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay may not be given ticket, instead Debasish Kumar, South Kolkata’s TMC president, may contest.