Calcutta, Dec 12: Six Trinamul Congress MLAs are without their seats because these have been merged with other constituencies for the coming Assembly elections.

The delimitation has brought the number of seats in Calcutta down to 11 from 22.

Trinamul sources said some of the MLAs have already begun lobbying senior party leaders to send a message across to Mamata Banerjee to accommodate them somehow.

“A message has to be sent to Mamatadi that she should consider nominating us in the newly formed seats. We should not be denied tickets simply because our seats have ceased to exist. We are worried about our fate,” said a Trinamul legislator from north Calcutta.

A party general secretary said Mamata does not seem to have given much thought to the matter because of her busy schedule as railway minister in New Delhi. “Mamatadi is too preoccupied with the current winter session of Parliament where a deadlock continues over the spectrum controversy. She has been unable to find any time for matters in Bengal,” he added.

Asked if there is a possibility of accommodating the now seatless legislators in the neighbouring districts of North and South-24 Parganas, Trinamul president Subrata Bakshi said: “It is, too, early to decide on the matter. We shall take a decision at an appropriate time”.

Among those who will be affected because of the delimitation exercise by the Election Commission is five-time MLA Sadhan Pande from Burtala, whose constituency is now part of Manicktala. Three-time legislator from Kashipur, Tarak Banerjee, is left without his constituency which is now part of a larger Belgachhia-Kashipur seat.

Pande looked distressed. “I have won Burtala since 1985, both as a Congress candidate and on a Trinamul ticket. My constituency has merged with Manicktala because of the delimitation. Now it is up to the leadership to decide whether I will be allowed to contest from the newly formed seat,” he said.

Trinamul sources said there were already several aspirants, including Pande, for the Manicktala seat.

Banerjee wants to contest from Belgachhia-Kashipur.

“I have been a three-time legislator from Kashipur. So I have a better electoral prospect in the new constituency. But the final decision will be taken by the leadership,” he said.

Also uncertain is the future of Mala Saha, who has won Belgachhia (West) once.

Trinamul’s Swarna Kamal Saha won Bowbazar in a bypoll but stands to lose the seat because it will merge with Chowringhee. (See chart)

Calcutta has lost the highest number of seats — 11 — to delimitation exercise.

The total number of constituencies across Bengal, however, remains 294 as the number of constituencies have increased in North and South-24 Parganas as well as in Malda.

Unlike its rival, the ruling CPM has spied hope in the delimitation exercise.

“There is no denying that CPM-backed Left Front nominees consistently fared badly in seats like Burtala, Bowbazar and Sealdah. Our candidates would be comfortable in the newly formed seats such as Manicktala and Beleghata because we have sitting legislators there,” said a CPM state committee member.

Manicktala is represented by the CPM’s Rupa Bagchi, who is the leader of Opposition in Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

The Beleghata MLA is Manab Mukherjee, state minister for tourism and small-scale industries.