kolkata

IIE DIGITAL DESK : Kolkata, March 17 – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has officially announced its candidate list for the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, covering 144 constituencies across the state. Among the high-profile candidates, Shuvendu Adhikari will contest from Bhabanipur and Nandigram, while Dilip Ghosh is set to fight from Kharagpur.

The announcement comes just 24 hours after the election schedule was declared, setting the stage for a tightly contested poll season. The BJP’s candidate list spans multiple districts, including North and South Bengal, with several seats still unannounced. In Koch Bihar, notable candidates include Sukumar Roy for Koch Bihar North, Sabitri Barman for Sitalkuchi, and Ajay Roy for Dinhata. In Alipurduar, Manojkumar Orao will contest from Kumargram, Vishal Lama from Kalchini, Paritosh Das from Alipurduar, and Deepak Barman from Falakata.

Jalpaiguri, Shikha Chattopadhyay will fight from Dabgram-Phulbari, while Puna Bhengra contests from Nagarakata. Darjeeling district sees Anandamoy Barman contesting from Matigara-Naxalbari, Shankar Ghosh from Siliguri, and Durga Murmu from Phasidewa.

Northern districts like Uttar Dinajpur feature Smarajit Biswas from Goalpokhar, Manoj Jain from Chakulia, Biraj Biswas from Karandighi, Utpal Maharaj from Kaliaganj, and Kaushik Chowdhury from Raiganj. Meanwhile, in South Dinajpur, candidates include Tapas Chandra Roy from Kushmandi, Shuvendu Sarkar from Kumarganj, Vidyut Roy from Balurghat, Budhrai Tudu from Tapan, Satyendranath Roy from Gangarampur, and Debbrat Majumdar from Harirampur.

Malda district, key candidates include Joel Murmu from Habibpur, Chinmoy Deb Barman from Gazol, Ratan Das from Chanchal, Ashis Das from Maltipur, Abhishek Singhania from Ratua, Gaurachandra Mandal from Manikchak, and Gopalchandra Saha from Malda constituency. Murshidabad features a 22-seat candidate list, including Mahavir Ghosh from Suti, Surajit Poddar from Raghunathganj, Amit Kumar Das from Lal Gola, Bhasker Sardar from Bhagabangola, Gourishankar Ghosh from Murshidabad, Bapan Ghosh from Rejinagar, Bharatkumar Jhaor from Beldanga, and Subrata Maitra from Baharampur.

Nadia, Parthasarathi Chattopadhyay contests from Ranaghat North-West, Asim Biswas from Ranaghat North-East, Bankimchandra Ghosh from Chakdah, and several seats remain unannounced. North 24 Parganas features candidates such as Sukriti Sarkar from Baduria, Arindam De from Amdanga, Soumitra Chattopadhyay from Naihati, and Paban Kumar Singh from Bhatpara. South 24 Parganas sees candidates like Bikash Sardar from Basanti, Madhabi Mahaldar from Kultali, Asitkumar Haldar from Patharpratima, Deepankar Jana from Kakdwip, Palash Rana from Raydighi, Asim Sapui from Canning East, Deepak Kumar Haldar from Diamond Harbour, Agnishwar Naskar from Bishnupur, Tarunkumar Adak from Baranagar, and Bir Bahadur Singh from Metiaburuz.

Kolkata, Shuvendu Adhikari contests from Bhabanipur, and Swapan Dasgupta from Rasbihari, while several other constituencies remain unannounced. How these candidates will perform in the initial phase of elections will set the tone for the subsequent phases, with key political battles expected in constituencies like Bhabanipur, Nandigram, Kharagpur, and other high-profile seats.

The BJP’s strategic candidate selection reflects an effort to strengthen its foothold across both urban and rural constituencies, combining experienced leaders with emerging faces to challenge the ruling parties. As the election process unfolds, political analysts will closely watch the first-phase contests for indications of voter sentiment and party performance across West Bengal.