New Delhi, January 2: Veteran actress Moushumi Chatterjee, known for her work in slew of Bengali and Hindi films, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. She was inducted into the party in presence of BJP general secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Speculations are rife that the Chatterjee is likely to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019 from a constituency in West Bengal. Although the BJP office bearers have not indicated her candidature, party insiders said she may be fielded from an urban constituency in Kolkata or its vicinity. Is Mamata Banerjee Scared of the BJP?

Chatterjee enjoys immense popularity in Bengal -- for her film career which has expanded for nearly four decades. She began acting in Bengali films since 1967, and entered Bollywood in 1972. The most recent movie in which she acted was the critically acclaimed Hindi movie Piku.

Chatterjee, 70, had last ventured into electoral politics in 2004, when she contested on the Congress ticket from the Calcutta North-East constituency. After her rout, she took a hiatus from active politics and returned to the big screen.

The prospects of her being elected as the lawmaker has increased in her second attempt -- which comes 15 years after the 2004 rout. The BJP, according to pollsters, is likely to emerge as the key challenger to the TMC in the 2019 polls -- surging past the Congress and CPI(M).

As per a recent opinion poll released by research agency  C-Voter, in coordination with news channel Republic World, the BJP would win 9 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, whereas, the TMC would maintain an unassailable lead with victories in 32 constituencies. The Congress and the CPI(M) will fail to open their accounts, the pre-election survey predicted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 02, 2019 07:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).