Bengal polls: Eyeing its first Assembly seat after 2016, Left unveils 1st list of 192 names
Mixing veteran leadership with youth icons, the CPI(M)-led alliance seeks a resurgence in the upcoming two-phase elections
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front on Monday (March 16) released a list of 192 candidates, its first, for the upcoming two-phase elections in West Bengal scheduled for April 23 and 29. Besides the CPI(M), parties such as the Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party, and All India forward Bloc, also gave candidates.
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Once a dominant force in Bengal which ruled the state for 34 years, the Left failed to win a single seat in the 2021 Assembly elections despite allying with the Congress and the Indian Secular Front.
The list comprised both young and experienced faces. There are 28 women candidates in the list, and many from the CPI(M)’s student and youth organisations.
Former Kolkata mayor in fray
Former Kolkata mayor and outgoing Rajya Sabha member Bikashranjan Bhattacharyya, who is also a veteran advocate, featured in the list, besides Minakshi Mukherjee, a member of the CPI(M)’s central committee and a prominent youth face of the Left Front. They will contest from the Jadavpur constituency in southern Kolkata and Uttarpara in Hooghly district, adjoining the capital.
CPI(M) announced a list of 192 candidates for the Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 pic.twitter.com/gdX5sP5LuB
— IANS (@ians_india) March 16, 2026
In the 2021 elections, Mukherjee challenged state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district but came third.
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Student leader Dipsita Dhar, who contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state but lost to opponents from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP, has been nominated from North Dum Dum.
Left fields mother of slain 8-year-old
The Left Front also fielded Sabina Yasmin, mother of six-year-old Tamanna, who was killed by a crude bomb allegedly thrown from a victory rally of the TMC on the day of counting for the by-election held in Kaliganj in Nadia district in June 2025. Yasmin will contest from the same seat.
Other younger candidates include Kalatan Dasgupta from Panihati (North 24 Parganas district), Sayandip Mitra from Baranagar (North 24 Parganas), Sayan Banerjee from Maheshtala (South 24 Parganas), and Saptarshi Deb from Rajarhat-New Town (North 24 Parganas).
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Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that the candidates for the remaining seats will be finalised and announced within three to four days.
Bengal has a 294-member strong Assembly and to form government, a party/alliance has to win 148 seats.
Results of the elections will be announced on May 4, along with those in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
(With agency inputs)