West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026: The BJP on Monday released its first list of 144 candidates for next month’s Assembly elections in West Bengal, fielding Suvendu Adhikari from Bhabanipur in Kolkata, a seat held by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari has also been fielded to retain the Nandigram seat in Purba Medinipur district, which he won defeating Mamata Banerjee by 1,956 votes in 2021. Trinamool supremo Banerjee later won from Bhabanipur in the bypoll, which was crucial for her to continue as the chief minister.
According to the list, Dilip Ghosh has been fielded from Kharagpur Sadar, Biman Mahto from Salboni, both in Paschim Medinipur district, while Swapan Dasgupta will contest the Rasbehari seat in south Kolkata.
Sumita Sinha will contest from Kanthi Uttar in Purba Medinipur district, Biman Ghosh from Pursurah in Hooghly district, while Madhavi Mahalder has been fielded from Kultali in South 24 Parganas district.
Anima Datta has been fielded from Palashipara in Nadia district, while Lakshikant Sahu has been named the BJP candidate from Jhargram, according to the list.
West Bengal Assembly Election 2026 Date
The 294 seats in West Bengal will go to polls in two phases – April 23 and April 29 – with the counting scheduled on May 4.
In Bengal, its the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led TMC vs BJP
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had on March 10 visited West Bengal to review poll preparedness in the state. They had also visited the other states which are heading into polls to review poll preparedness.
The total number of seats in the West Bengal legislative assembly is 294, with the main contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in the state since 2011.
