Protests erupted across several constituencies in West Bengal soon after major political parties announced their candidate lists for the upcoming Assembly elections, with workers from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left Front voicing dissent over ticket distribution.
The ruling TMC announced the names of 291 candidates on Tuesday, while the BJP released its first list of 144 candidates on Monday. The Left Front also announced the coalition’s first list of 192 candidates on Monday.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) fielded sitting Canning East MLA Saokat Molla from the Bhangar Assembly seat in South 24 Parganas, replacing him in Canning East with Md Baharul Islam. Soon after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced the candidates on Tuesday, protests erupted in Canning East, with supporters demanding that Molla be reinstated as the party’s candidate from the constituency.
A road was blocked with burning tyres at Jibantala. On Wednesday morning, protesters gathered outside Molla’s residence with the same demand.
“I would first like to speak to the TMC leadership, Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee before commenting,” Molla said, refusing to comment further.
The TMC named Debangshu Bhattacharya as its candidate from the Chinsurah Assembly seat in Hooghly. The sitting MLA, Asit Majumdar, was visibly dejected after the announcement made by CM Banerjee and party National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“I was shocked when I learnt that my name has been dropped from the candidate list. I heard that sitting MLAs whose performances were poor have been dropped. I spoke with Abhishek Banerjee. I will make a decision within a day or two after speaking to my family and TMC leaders in my constituency,” Majumdar told the media.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, while announcing the candidates’ names on Tuesday, said: “Not all names could be included in the candidate list. I will try to accommodate them in some other posts and allot them some other tasks. They shouldn’t misunderstand me. Because in every election, some fresh faces need to be brought in. The old guards need to be utilised in some other tasks. The party’s decision is supreme.”
Meanwhile, Biswanath Bandopadhyay, BJP’s candidate from Mahishadal in East Midnapore in 2021, also threatened to quit the party after his name was dropped from the candidate list for the upcoming polls.
In Alipurduar in north Bengal, BJP workers went on a rampage at a party office on Tuesday, demanding a change in the candidate’s name. The party named Paritosh Das as its candidate from the Assembly seat. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the seat was won by Suman Kanjilal, the BJP’s candidate. He, however, later joined the TMC.
“The people of Alipurduar have been betrayed by the TMC. I have been working for the development of Alipurduar for a long time. Now a bigger scope is coming. If I win with the blessings of the people, I will continue to work for them,” said Das.
Similarly, The Left Front announced Sabina Yasmin as the CPI(M)’s candidate from the Kaliaganj Assembly seat in Nadia district, where her nine-year-old daughter was killed by bomb splinters allegedly hurled by TMC workers in June 2025 after the bypoll results. However, the decision triggered unrest within the party, with CPI(M) workers on Tuesday ransacking a party office in Kaliaganj, damaging furniture and locking the premises while demanding a change in the candidate.
“She is neither a party leader nor a worker. She is not even a member of the party. The booth-level workers, who work day and night for the party, cannot accept this decision and have hence staged protests,” Mukuleshwar Rehman, a CPI(M) leader from Kaliaganj, said.
