West Bengal Assembly Elections: TMC releases list of 291 candidates, Mamata Banerjee will contest from Bhawanipur

Kolkata17 March. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday announced the names of 291 candidates for the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026. This time, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest elections from Bhawanipur instead of Nandigram, where BJP has fielded Suvendu Adhikari against her. However, Suvendu Adhikari will also contest from Nandigram. It is noteworthy that BJP has already released the first list of names of 144 candidates.

BGPM will contest on the remaining 3 seats of Darjeeling Hills.

Announcing the names of the candidates at a press conference here along with party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and state president Subrata Bakshi, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said her party will contest 291 out of 294 seats in the state. Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) will contest the remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills.

pic.twitter.com/VVOROmDbiC

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 17, 2026

TMC’s 291 among the candidates 52 women included

Abhishek Banerjee said that out of 291 TMC candidates, 52 are women, 95 are Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe and 47 are minorities. Among the major candidates, Chandrima Bhattacharya has been fielded from Dumdum North seat, Madan Mitra from Kamarhati seat, Firhad Hakim from Kolkata Port seat, Kunal Ghosh from Beleghata seat and Dr. Shashi Panja from Shyampukur seat.

Mamta’s claim – ‘This time we 226 will win more seats than‘

Mamata Banerjee said, “Before releasing the list of candidates, I thank the people of Bengal. I dedicate ‘Maa Mati Manush’ and ‘Banglar Sanskriti’ to everyone and release the list of candidates for 291 seats.”

CM Mamata expressed confidence that TMC will retain power in the 2026 assembly elections by easily winning the majority. He claimed, ‘We will win more than 226 seats in the 2026 assembly elections.’

Announcement of the candidate list for the 2026 Assembly elections. 2026 assembly election candidate list announcement phase

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 17, 2026

BJP will get a befitting reply for its anti-people policies

Taking aim at the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), CM Banerjee said that the party’s seats will decline in the upcoming elections. He said, ‘BJP’s seats will decrease in this election. They will get a befitting reply for their anti-people policies.

The TMC chief said, “I want to say something to the BJP… Why are you afraid? If you want to fight then enter the field in the right manner. ECI, you played an amazing game. BJP has no chance. This time your seats will be less than last time. This is a fight for the existence of West Bengal. Bengal will win. ‘Dilli Ka Laddu’ will not win.”

The Chief Minister also tried to reassure those party leaders and workers who could not find a place in the list of candidates. He said that such leaders will be accommodated in the organization.

Elections will be held in two phases

It is noteworthy that West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in two phases. In the first phase, voting will be held on 152 assembly seats on April 23, while in the second phase, voting will be held on the remaining 142 seats on April 29. Notification for the first phase will be released on March 30 and candidates will be able to file nominations till April 6. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on April 7 and candidates can withdraw their names till April 9. Counting of votes for both phases will take place on May 4.