BJP Pits Suvendu Against Mamata’s Stronghold Bhabanipur
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Kolkata
- Mar 16, 2026
- 561
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its first list of candidates for the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly election 2026, announcing 144 nominees in the initial phase. The party has fielded Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram as well as Bhabanipur, the latter currently represented by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari had famously defeated Banerjee in Nandigram during the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. Following that setback, Banerjee secured a return to the Assembly by winning a by-election from Bhabanipur, long regarded as a stronghold of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). She served as the constituency’s MLA continuously from 2011 to 2021.
In Diamond Harbour, which falls within the parliamentary constituency represented by Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the BJP has nominated Deepak Kumar Haldar. The seat is presently held by TMC MLA Pannalal Haldar. Meanwhile, former Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has been fielded from Kharagpur Sadar.
Ahead of the Bengal announcement, the BJP also released its first list for the Kerala Legislative Assembly election 2026, declaring 47 candidates out of 140 seats. The party has nominated state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom. Chandrasekhar had earlier contested the 2024 Indian general election from Thiruvananthapuram, where he lost to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is currently serving her third consecutive term as Chief Minister. The BJP remains the principal challenger to her leadership after more than 14 years in power. Should the TMC secure victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, Banerjee would become the first woman in India to serve four consecutive terms as Chief Minister.
The overall record for the highest number of terms as Chief Minister among women is held by J. Jayalalithaa, who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times between 1991 and 2016, albeit in non-consecutive terms.