West Bengal Assembly polls: Trinamool Congress drops 74 sitting MLAs

Mamata Banerjee's TMC drops 74 sitting MLAs in Bengal poll list, signalling a generational shift; Congress also unveils first list for Kerala Assembly elections

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday released its list of 291 candidates for the state Assembly polls, dropping 74, or more than a third of its sitting legislators. Polling for the 294-member Bengal Assembly is set to take place on April 23 and 29.

 

Banerjee released the list at a press conference at her residence in Kolkata’s Kalighat, where she asserted that her party will secure a fourth successive term by winning 226 seats. The list confirmed that Banerjee will contest from her sitting Bhabanipur seat, which she won in a bypoll in 2021 after losing the Nandigram seat in East Medinipur to Adhikari.

 

 

The BJP released its first list for the Bengal polls on Monday, with Adkhikari slated to contest from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in south Kolkata. The TMC has fielded Pabitra Kar, a former BJP-linked panchayat leader, who recently returned to the party. 

 

“I work 365 days a year. I trust the people (of Bhabanipur). We will win by a record margin,” Mamata Banerjee said, when asked about her contest against Adhikari. The Trinamool has left three seats of Darjeeling Hills for its ally — Anil Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha.

 

The TMC suffered a setback in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, winning by a slim margin against the BJP, which had secured 40.64 per cent vote share, against TMC’s 43.69 per cent. The BJP won an unprecedented 18 LS seats. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the TMC secured a commanding mandate of 215 seats with a vote share that was 10 percentage points more than that of the BJP’s. In the 2024 LS polls, the TMC won 29 seats to the BJP’s 12. In the Bengal Assembly, the Trinamool raised its tally to 225 over the last five years, after defections and bypoll wins.

 

Of the 224 MLAs, the party retained 135 (around 60 per cent), shifted 15 to different seats, and dropped 74, suggesting an effort by the leadership to neutralise local anti-incumbency, while preserving its booth-level organisational network. Senior ministers Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas and Chandrima Bhattacharya, have been renominated from their existing constituencies. Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist Swapna Barman has been fielded from Rajganj. Sirsan Banerjee, son of TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee, will contest from Uttarpara.

 

TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that of the 291 candidates, 239 are men (82 per cent) and 52 women (18 per cent). The party said 149 candidates are from the General and Other Backward Classes categories (51 per cent), 78 Scheduled Castes (27 per cent), 17 Scheduled Tribes (6 per cent) and 47 minorities (16 per cent). Eleven SC/ST candidates have also been fielded in non-reserved seats, the party said. Over the last decade, the BJP has reached out to these communities in Bengal, with the TMC responding by seeking to give them more political representation and announcing welfare schemes.

 

Mamata Banerjee said the party’s list reflects its desire to usher in a measured generational shift. Abhishek Banerjee said four candidates are below 31 years of age and 38 fall in the 31-40 year age bracket. The largest cohort comprises leaders aged between 51 and 60 years (89 candidates), followed closely by 41-50 years (88 nominees).

 

Congress releases first list for Kerala polls

 

The Congress, which leads the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance, on Tuesday released its first list of 55 candidates for the Kerala Assembly polls, renominating 19 of its sitting legislators. The party hopes to unseat the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front, which has won the last two Assembly polls.

 

Polling in the southern state’s 140 assembly seats will commence on April 9. The Congress announced that senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala will contest from Haripad seat, which he has won in the last three Assembly elections. Leader of Opposition in state assembly V D Satheesan will contest from Paravur, a seat he has won consecutively since 2001.

 

Chandy Oommen will contest from Puthupally, which he won in a bypoll in 2023, after the passing away of his father, former Kerala CM, Oommen Chandy, who had represented the seat from 1970. Former Lok Sabha MP Ramya Haridas, who had won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Alathur constituency but lost in 2024, will contest from the Chirayinkeezhu reserved constituency. Former Lok Sabha MP K Muraleedharan, son of former chief minister K Karunakaran, is Congress’ candidate from Vattiyoorkavu, a seat he won in 2011 and 2016, but vacated in 2019, after his election to the Lok Sabha. The LDF won the seat in the 2019 bypoll and 2021.  

‘Horse trading’ accusations fly after Rajya Sabha polls

 

Allegations of “horse trading” of legislators erupted as Rajya Sabha elections saw cross-voting in Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana, with the Congress suspending three of its MLAs in Odisha and warning some of its MLAs of strict action in Haryana.

 

The NDA, in total, won nine, including one BJP-backed Independent in Odisha, of the 11 seats where elections were held on Monday.  

 

Rejecting opposition’s allegations in Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, the BJP and its allies said the opposition failed to manage its legislators and did not follow standard procedures of issuing a whip during voting.