Kolkata: BJP neta Suvendu Adhikari will contest from Bhowanipore, CM Mamata Banerjee’s home turf, as well as Nandigram in the upcoming assembly elections. Dilip Ghosh has been fielded in Kharagpur Sadar, a preferred seat for the BJP veteran. Soumitra Chattopadhyay, a seventh-generation descendant of litterateur Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, will contest on the saffron party’s ticket from Naihati, the birthplace of Vande Mataram’s creator.The three are among the 144 names on BJP’s first list of candidates, released on Monday, for the Bengal polls.Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the assembly, has been saying for the past few months that he would put up a tough fight against Banerjee in Bhowanipore. The party has chosen him to contest from both Bhowanipore and Nandigram.In the 2021 assembly polls, Banerjee had lost to Adhikari in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, a result that has been challenged at the high court. Bhowanipore, on the other hand, has sent Banerjee to the assembly thrice since 2011.Raising the stakes, Bengal BJP’s co-in-charge Amit Malviya posted on his X handle: “Adhikari will contest from Nandigram, where he defeated Mamata Banerjee in 2021, and from Bhowanipore, the constituency she currently represents as an MLA. This will be a fight to the finish.”Ghosh had been pushed to the sidelines, but his rehabilitation started with the appointment of Samik Bhattacharya as state BJP chief last year.Dilip Ghosh had openly expressed his displeasure over being sent to contest from the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat in 2024. He lost the fight. A few months ago, he said he was ready to join the fray if fielded in Kharagpur Sadar, which he had represented in the assembly from 2016 to 2019. The party has brought him back to his preferred constituency, whose sitting MLA is actor Hiran.Ghosh’s presence on the dais at PM Modi’s rally at Brigade Parade Ground signalled his comeback.Soumitra Chattopadhyay, the great-great-grandson of Bankim Chandra, joined the party a month ago. The former employee of the state labour department will try his luck in Naihati.Journalist-turned-politician Swapan Dasgupta will contest from Rashbehari in Kolkata. Dasgupta, a Padma Bhushan awardee, was a BJP Rajya Sabha member. KMC councillor Sajal Ghosh will contest from Baranagar and actor Rudranil Ghosh from Shibpur.The first list of candidates, which was finalised three days ago, retains 41 MLAs, including heavyweights such as BJP’s assembly chief whip Shankar Ghosh, who will contest from Siliguri. Three former MLAs — Jitendra Tiwari (Pandabeswar), Samarendranath Ghosh (Karimpur) and Saikat Panja (Manteswar) — are on the list. “The party has tried to send a message that it is moving ahead with a synergy of old and new faces,” a senior BJP functionary said.The list includes 11 women, including Agnimitra Paul (Asansol South), Malati Rava Roy (Tufanganj) and Chandana Bauri (Saltora). Twenty-three of the candidates are teachers, six are advocates, five are doctors and three are retired soldiers. Former Kurmi Samaj state president Rajesh Mahato, who joined the party weeks ago, has been fielded in Gopiballavpur. Mahato, a key figure in the Kurmi movement for nearly three decades, has been demanding the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and ST status for the community.Among the candidates are three spiritual personalities — Utpal Maharaj (Kaliaganj), Swami Mangalananda Puri (Uluberia South) and Nikhil Banerjee (Hansan).
