Kolkata, March 31 – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its fourth list of party candidates for the upcoming two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal on Tuesday.
The fourth list includes a total of 13 new names. In addition, the BJP also changed the party candidate for the Maynaguri Assembly constituency in the Jalpaiguri district, and the name of the new candidate is also mentioned there.
After announcing candidates for 13 seats on Tuesday, the names of candidates for six more seats are yet to be announced. The BJP is still discussing the names of the probable candidates for these six Assembly constituencies.
This list shows that outgoing and veteran legislator Mihir Goswami has been dropped from the Natabari constituency in the Cooch Behar district. Girija Shankar Roy, who recently joined the BJP, has been fielded from that constituency.
Similarly, former Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor, Santosh Pathak, who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP, has been fielded from the Chowringhee constituency in North Kolkata.
The list also includes former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Debashis Dhar, who had been fielded from the Sonarpur (Uttar) constituency in South 24 Parganas district. Journalist-cum-Youtuber, Manav Guha, has been fielded from the Memari constituency in East Burdwan district.
Dhar is the second former IPS officer whom the BJP has fielded as a candidate, the first being Dr Rajesh Kumar, the former Kolkata Police Commissioner, who was earlier fielded from the Jagatdal Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district.
Guha is the third journalist-turned-politician to be fielded by the BJP for the West Bengal Assembly polls, with the other two being Jagannath Chattopadhyay from the Suri Assembly constituency in Birbhum district and Santu Pan from the Tarakeswar Assembly seat in Hooghly district. Chattopadhyay is also the state vice-president of the BJP in West Bengal.
Soma Thakur, wife of two-time party Lok Sabha member and Union Minister of State, Santanu Thakur, had been fielded from the Bagda Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district.