The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday released a list of 148 candidates for the last four phases of the West Bengal Assembly elections. The party’s National Vice President Mukul Roy will contest elections from Krishnanagar Uttar, while senior leader Rahul Sinha will fight from Habra.

Ranaghat Lok Sabha MP Jagannath Sarkar will contest elections from Shantipur. Former MLA Bankim was named the candidate from Chakdaha constituency.

Sabyasachi Dutta, who switched over to BJP from the Trinamool Congress, was named as the candidate from Bidhannagar. Folk artiste Ashim Sarkar will contest elections from the Haringhata assembly constituency.

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Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh’s name was not on the list. He will not contest the elections, NDTV reported, citing unidentified officials.

Last week, the BJP released a list of 27 candidates for the third phase of West Bengal elections and 36 for the fourth phase.

Union minister Babul Supriyo will contest elections from Tollygunge in Kolkata. MP Locket Chatterjee was fielded from Chinsurah constituency in Hooghly. Swapan Dasgupta was named as the BJP’s candidate from Tarkeshwar.

BJP had unveiled its first list of 57 candidates on March 6. The party fielded Suvendu Adhikari against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the crucial Nandigram constituency.

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Earlier this week, BJP members in West Bengal staged protests as newcomers were given a preference in the candidate lists and some old-timers were benched. Former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee quit the party after he was not given a ticket from his desired constituency.

The elections to the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The results will be declared on May 2. The state will see a three-cornered fight between the Trinamool Congress, the BJP and an alliance between Left parties, Congress and the Indian Secular Front.