View of TMC and BJP flags along a bridge in Pattabuka area of Karimpur, Nadia. File | Photo credit: ANI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (March 19, 2026) announced candidates for 112 seats, which included three former MPs, but remained silent on Abhaya’s mother’s candidature.
On Thursday (March 19, 2026), the mother of a doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in August 2024 told the media that she had informed the BJP leadership of her decision to contest the assembly polls from Panihati seat in North 24 Parganas district. The BJP is yet to announce a candidate for the seat.
2026 council election update March 19, 2026
The victim’s mother, popularly called Abhaya, vowed to defeat the Trinamool Congress government and said the fall of the Trinamool regime would bring justice to her daughter. The month-long protests in 2024 against the horrific crime was one of the biggest challenges facing the Mamata Banerjee government in its third term. Abhaya’s mother also targeted the CPI(M) leadership, alleging that the party leaders used her daughter’s death as a political opportunity.
In the first list of candidates released on Monday (March 16, 2026), the BJP announced 144 names; the list on Thursday (March 19, 2026) named 111 new candidates and changed one candidate. The party also changed its candidate for the Bishnupur Assembly seat on Thursday (March 19, 2026).
Prominent names on the list include three former MPs – former Rajya Sabha member Rupa Ganguly contesting from Sonarpur South in South 24 Parganas, Arjun Singh from Noapara in North 24 Parganas and Nisith Pramanik from Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar district.
The BJP has fielded advocate Koustav Bagchi from Barrackpore Assembly and another lawyer, Tarunjyoti Tiwari, is a candidate in Rajarhat Gopalpur. Both the seats are located in North 24 Parganas district.
The party seems to have put its faith in the old guard by fielding Ritesh Tewari from Belgachia Kashipur in Kolkata. In central Kolkata, the BJP has fielded heavyweight candidates such as West Bengal party vice-president Tapas Roy from Maniktala seat and party councilor Vijay Ojha has been nominated from Jorasanko.
Rekha Patra, a leader who emerged from the Sandeshkhali movement, was deployed in Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas. The BJP candidate for Behala Paschim is Indranil Khan who is the state president of the BJP Yuva Morcha. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s brother Dibyendu Adhikari has been deployed in Egra in Purba Medinipur district. Ex-cop Rajesh Kumar was posted in Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas. The BJP has also given tickets to actor-turned-politician Hiran Chatterjee from Shyampur in Howrah. Mr. Chatterjee, a sitting MLA, had to vacate the Kharagpur Sadar seat to BJP heavyweight Dilip Ghosh.
The BJP has also given tickets to three sitting MLAs from the region dominated by Matua state. The party has fielded Ashok Kirtania from Bongaon Uttar, Swapan Majumdar from Bangaon South and Subrata Thakur from Gaighat. Former Bongaon District BJP President and Member of Bongaon Devdas Mandal Municipal Council was fielded from Habra. All the four seats are in North 24 Parganas district.
The party has not yet announced candidates for 38 mandates. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29.
Published – 19 March 2026 20:27 IST
