Kolkata, March 17 – The Trinamool Congress released its first list of 291 candidates on Tuesday for the two-phase April elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, setting the stage for a fierce battle in the Bhabanipur constituency in South Kolkata, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest again.
According to the list released by Banerjee, she will contest from Bhabanipur this time as well, where she will face Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition.
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of 144 candidates, nominating Adhikari from his current constituency of Nandigram in East Midnapore district, as well as from Bhabanipur.
This is the second time that Banerjee will be contesting against Adhikari.
Adhikari was elected as a legislator from Nandigram for the second consecutive time in 2021, defeating Banerjee.
Later, Banerjee was elected from Bhabanipur in a by-election and retained the post of Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.
While the Trinamool will be contesting from 291 constituencies, they have spared three assembly constituencies in the North Bengal hills, namely Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong, for their political ally in the hills, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), founded by Anit Thapa, who is also the Chief Executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
In Nandigram, the Trinamool fielded Pabitra Kar, a former local BJP leader and a close confidant of Adhikari, who joined the party just a couple of hours before Chief Minister Banerjee released the list of party candidates.
"This time, our candidates will win from at least 226 Assembly constituencies. After the elections, the BJP will have no presence in West Bengal," Banerjee said.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the Trinamool won 215 seats, while the BJP secured 77 seats. The CPI-M-led Left Front and the All India Secular Front (AISF) had a seat-sharing arrangement in 2021. While the AISF managed to win one seat, both the Left Front and the Congress failed to win any seats at all.
This time, the Congress and the Left Front are contesting the elections separately.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Banerjee also cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I would like to ask the Prime Minister, if you have faith in the people of West Bengal, why are you hurting the sentiments of the people of Bengal? Remember, the people will retaliate in the elections!" she said.