West Bengal BJP Candidates 2026 List: The BJP has released its first list of 144 candidates for the West Bengal elections. The party has nominated Suvendu Adhikari from the Nandigram and Bhawanipur seats.

BJP releases first list of candidates in West Bengal

The BJP has released its first list of 144 candidates for the West Bengal elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh. The BJP has fielded Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram and Bhawanipur, two constituencies where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee won the last election.

Shubhendu defeated Mamata in the Nandigram election.

In the 2021 assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the Nandigram seat by around 2,000 votes. Adhikari's victory was declared after 17 rounds of counting. Mamata Banerjee then accused the BJP of rigging the election. Following that defeat, Mamata Banerjee contested the by-election from the Bhawanipur seat and won. Now, the same BJP has once again fielded Suvendu Adhikari in her own seat to corner Mamata Banerjee.

BJP announces first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly Elections pic.twitter.com/QHLfHAUNFF

— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2026

Dilip Ghosh and Agnimitra Paul got tickets

The BJP has fielded Dilip Kumar Ghosh from the Bolpur constituency, Agnimitra Paul from Asansol South, Dilip Ghosh from Kharagpur Sadar, and former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta from Rashbehari. The party has fielded Deepak Kumar Halder from Diamond Harbour, Krishnendu Mukherjee from Asansol North, Bapan Ghosh from Kaliganj, Sukumar Roy from Cooch Behar North, Shankar Ghosh from Siliguri, and Nikhil Banerjee from Hassan.

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on Instagram, "The BJP has released its first list of candidates for West Bengal. Our Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, will contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021, and from Bhawanipur, where Mamata Banerjee is currently an MLA. This will be a tough contest."

Elections will be held in two phases in Bengal

The Election Commission announced on Sunday (March 15, 2025) that the assembly elections for the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, 2026. Votes will be counted on May 4, 2026. In the last assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee won 215 seats, while the BJP became the main opposition party with 77 seats.