Mamata Banerjee NOT a star campaigner in Himachal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not be a star campaigner for the Trinamool Congress as the Election Commission has rejected the list of her party's star campaigners for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.

The expenditure incurred on the party campaigners, including Banerjee, will not be exempted now as they are not 'star campaigners' approved by the EC and such expenses will be included in the candidates' expenses, sources said.

They said the Trinamool Congress's list of 20 star campaigners -- which also included former Union Ministers Mukul Roy, Saugata Roy, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Sultan Ahmed -- was rejected by the commission as it was received after the stipulated time period.

Trinamool Congress had submitted a list of its 20 star campaigners including Banerjee and 11 party MPs.

The list was provided by TMC on October 18, while the last date for its submission to the Commission was October 17, seven days after the issue of poll notification for the Himachal elections.

The expenditure incurred on star campaigners is not accounted for in the candidates' poll expenses and this privilege will now be not available to the campaigners.