It’s Mamata vs. Suvendu again; Trinamool to contest 291 seats in Bengal polls

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will fight her protege turned bitter rival, the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, from the Bhabanipur seat in Kolkata in the 2026 Assembly elections.

In the 2021 election, Mr. Adhikari defeated Ms. Banerjee in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, following which the Chief Minister had to shift to the Bhabanipur seat from where she won a bypoll and which she currently represents.

Asked about the challenge Mr. Adhikari, who was named the BJP candidate on Monday, will pose, Ms. Banerjee said, “We will win with the maximum number of votes from Bhabanipur.”

The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) announced its list of candidates for the elections, with Ms. Banerjee declaring that the party will contest 291 of the 294 seats in the State.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Ms. Banerjee said the remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills will be contested by Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM).

“We will contest 291 of the 294 seats. The remaining three seats will be contested by our ally, Anit Thapa-led BGPM, in the Darjeeling hills,” Ms. Banerjee said, while announcing the names of candidates, flanked by the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and state president Subrata Bakshi.

Ms. Banerjee expressed confidence that the Trinamool would retain power with a comfortable majority in the 2026 Assembly elections.

“We will win more than 226 seats in the 2026 Assembly polls,” she said.

The Chief Minister also sought to reassure party leaders and workers who could not find a place in the candidate list, saying they would be accommodated in the organisation.

“All those who could not be accommodated in the candidate list will be accommodated in the organisation,” she said.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ms. Banerjee said the saffron party would see its numbers decline in the upcoming polls.

“The BJP’s tally will decrease in this election. They will receive a befitting reply for their anti-people policies,” she said.

The announcement of the candidates sets the stage for an intense electoral contest in West Bengal, where the Trinamool is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term.