The Trinamool Congress has released its candidate list for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly Election. Party chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the party will contest 291 out of 294 seats. The remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills have been left for the Anit Thapa-led BGPM as part of an alliance arrangement.
Key Candidates And High Profile Seats
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take on her lieutenant-turned-arch-rival, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur constituency. Senior minister Shashi Panja has been fielded from Maniktala. Actor-turned-politician Soham Chakraborty has been given a ticket from Chandipur, and Jyotipriya Mallick will contest from Habra. However, Kanai Mandal has been denied a ticket this time.
Veteran leader Madan Mitra has been renominated, but his constituency has been changed. He has been shifted from Kamarhati and will now contest from Baranagar. In Khardah, the party has fielded former journalist Devadeep Purohit as its candidate.
Prabhat Banerjee, the son of MP Kalyan Banerjee, has been nominated from Uttarpara. Former BJP leader Pavitra Kar has been fielded from Nandigram, which remains one of the most high-profile constituencies in the state. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh will contest an Assembly election for the first time, having been nominated from Beleghata. Former cricketer and minister Manoj Tiwari, however, did not receive a ticket this time.
The party has also granted tickets to Minister Becharam Manna and his wife, Karbi Manna. Swapan Debnath will contest from Purbasthali South, while Malay Ghatak has been fielded from Asansol North and his brother, Abhijit Ghatak, from Kulti. From Murarai in Birbhum, Kajal Sheikh has been named as the candidate.
In Kolkata, the party has retained several familiar faces. Debasish Kumar will contest from Rashbehari, Firhad Hakim from Kolkata Port, and Sujit Bose from Bidhannagar. In Behala West and Maheshtala, the party has fielded siblings Ratna Chatterjee and Subhashis Das as candidates.
Debangshu Bhattacharya has also been given a ticket this time. While he played an active role in campaigning during the previous election, he was not nominated at that time. For the 2026 polls, the party has fielded him from Chunchura.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, and the counting of votes will take place on May 4.
