Calcutta, Feb. 6: A day after Mamata Banerjee declared the list of her 52 party nominees, three of the “disgruntled” Trinamul Congress legislators dropped from the list called their exclusion “unjust”.

While Nayana Banerjee (Bowbazar), and Ambika Banerjee (central Howrah) were suspended from the Trinamul on the charge of hobnobbing with the state Congress, Dipak Ghosh (Mahishadal in East Midnapore) was censured for writing a letter to Mamata questioning her “dictatorial style of functioning”.

Nayana today, however, claimed she did not join the Congress though she had merely campaigned for her husband Sudip when he had contested as a Congress nominee in the Calcutta North West seat in 2004. “Is it wrong for a wife to stand by her husband'” Nayana asked, adding that she had spoken to Mamata and written to her with a request to renominate her from Bowbazar.

“But a section of party functionaries is hatching a conspiracy to spoil my political career. I still consider didi my supreme leader under whose inspiration I have joined politics. I would like to contest from Bowbazar if renominated,” she added.

Ghosh said it was unfortunate that stories were being cooked up for him not being named in the list. “I still belong to Trinamul but don’t know why I did not figure in yesterday’s list.” He denied that he had “strained” relations with Mamata because of his “controversial letter”.

Also disillusioned is an elderly Ambika Banerjee who had retained the Central Howrah seat for the fifth consecutive time since 1982 by a huge margin.

“I never joined the Congress, nor have I resigned from Trinamul. So, I would prefer to be renominated as a Trinamul candidate from the same seat,” he said.

Several Trinamul leaders also said Mamata’s “half-hearted move” would not only create confusion among the party rank and file but also hand an issue to “our political adversaries”.