Mamata Writes Letters, Suvendu Beats Drums in Bhawanipore
BJP's Suvendu Adhikari campaigns in Bhawanipore (Image X.com)
BJP Fields Ex-IPS Officer, Actress, Sandeshkhali Icon and Roopa Ganguly in 111-Candidate Second List — Suvendu Launches Bhawanipore Campaign With Unusual Confidence
By NIRENDRA DEV
Kolkata, March 21, 2026 — The BJP released its second list of 111 candidates for the West Bengal assembly elections on Thursday — a carefully assembled roster that combines professional credibility, celebrity recognition, family loyalty, and the symbolic politics of Sandeshkhali — as Suvendu Adhikari launched his Bhawanipore campaign with a confidence that would have been difficult to imagine a fortnight ago.
The professionals
The most analytically significant appointment in the second list is former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar, fielded from Jagatdal. The decision to deploy a retired senior police officer as a candidate is a deliberate counter-narrative to Trinamool’s most effective attack line — that the BJP governs through central agencies rather than democratic mandate. A former IPS officer on the ballot reframes law enforcement credibility as an electoral asset rather than an adversarial instrument.
BJP spokesperson Dr Shatarupa will contest from Ballygunge — a seat that demands articulacy and urban credibility. Advocate Chitto Mukherjee has been named from Jangipur, adding legal professional weight to the list. The combination of a police officer, a lawyer, and a party spokesperson in contested urban and semi-urban seats signals a deliberate effort to present the BJP as a party of institutional competence, not merely ideological mobilisation.
The celebrities
Roopa Ganguly — actress, former Rajya Sabha MP, and one of the BJP’s most recognisable faces in Bengal — has been fielded from Sonarpur Dakshin. Actress Papiya Adhikari gets Tollygunge, placing a film industry face in the constituency most associated with Bengal’s entertainment world. The optics are direct: Tollywood for Tollygunge.
The Sandeshkhali card
Rekha Patra, who rose to national prominence during the Sandeshkhali episode — the sexual violence and land grab allegations against TMC leaders that convulsed Bengal’s political conversation in 2024 — has been fielded from Hingalganj. The BJP is betting that her candidacy keeps the Sandeshkhali narrative alive through polling day on April 23 and 29. It is simultaneously a moral argument and a political one.
West Bengal Electoral Roll: 63L Voters Deleted, BJP Smells Blood
The family and defector architecture
Dibendu Adhikari — brother of Suvendu — contests from Egra, consolidating family hold over the Adhikari belt in Purba Medinipur. Former Trinamool leader Tapas Roy gets Maniktala, continuing the BJP’s pattern of absorbing high-profile TMC defectors and deploying them in seats where their local networks retain value. Former minister Nisith Pramanik contests Mathabhanga. Koustav Bagchi gets Barrackpore. Priyanka Tibrewal, a lawyer who previously contested Bhabanipur against Mamata in a by-election, has been named from Entally.
Bhawanipore: the confidence variable
Suvendu Adhikari’s campaign launch in Bhawanipore — where he will directly contest Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — was marked by something qualitatively different from previous BJP campaign openers in Bengal: unhurried confidence.
“There would be free movement. Police should not work at the instance of Trinamool leaders. I will move around and campaign freely. I will say what I have to say. Let Mamata Banerjee do her campaign. And then people’s decision will be final,” Adhikari said.
That confidence has a structural source. The Election Commission’s systematic dismantling of Mamata’s pre-poll administrative architecture — 13 DMs replaced, the Chief Secretary transferred within hours of the poll announcement, post-February 28 postings under review — has shifted the psychological balance on the ground. BJP workers who spent years operating under what they described as partisan policing now believe the administrative playing field has materially changed.
Mamata’s response: the language of the cornered
Trinamool’s reply to the EC’s actions — a formal protest letter from Mamata Banerjee — is revealing precisely because of its register. “While the State is heading towards elections, the elected government continues to function and cannot be undermined or rendered ineffective by any authority. Actions of this nature risk creating an atmosphere akin to an emergency or indirect central rule, which is deeply concerning and unfortunate. They undermine the spirit of cooperative federalism,” she wrote.
The language is that of a leader making a constitutional argument because the political argument is no longer available. Two weeks ago, Mamata was projecting command. Today, she is writing letters about cooperative federalism.
The election is April 23 and 29. The administrative ground has shifted. The candidate list is out. Suvendu is already in Bhawanipore with drum beats.
Bengal’s verdict is the only variable that remains.
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
