Date
Election fever in West Bengal is peaking as voters in 30 constituencies across five districts will go to polling booths to elect their representatives in the state assembly.
The first phase of polling will cover districts like Purulia, West Midnapore, Bankura, East Midnapore, and Jhargram. Some of the important highlights of the first phase of polling in West Bengal include:
- 48 candidates i.e one in every four seeking votes on March 27 has criminal cases against them. 42 of them face serious criminal charges.
- There are 19 candidates with assets worth over ₹1 crore. Nine of them are from Trinamool Congress (TMC) and four are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- 53 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 109 candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 29 candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years.
These facts have been taken from a report published by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Here’s the list of constituencies, the sitting members of the legislative assembly (MLA) and their challengers:
| Constituency Name | Current MLA | Changes since last election | Challengers |
| Patashpur | Jyotirmoy Kar (TMC) | Uttam Basak (TMC) | Ambujaksha Mahanti (BJP), Saikat Giri (CPI) |
| Kanthi Uttar | Banasri Maity (TMC) | Tarun Kumar Jana (TMC) | Sunita Singha (BJP), Sutanu Maity (CPI-M) |
| Bhagabanpur | Ardhendu Maity (TMC) | NA | Rabindranath Maity (BJP), Shiu Maiti (Congress) |
| Khejuri (SC) | Ranajit Mondal (TMC) | Parthapratim Das (TMC) | Santanu Pramanik (BJP), Himangshu Das (CPI-M) |
| Kanthi Dakshin | Chandrima Battacharya (TMC) | Jyotirmoy Kar (TMC) | Arup Kumar Das (BJP), Anulup Panda (CPI) |
| Ramnagar | Akhil Giri (TMC) | NA | Swadesh Ranjan Nayak (BJP), Sabyasachi Jana (CPI-M) |
| Egra | Samares Das (TMC) | Tarun Maity (TMC) | Sakti Pada Nayak (BJP), Sisir Patra (CPI) |
| Dantan | Arun Mahapatra (CPI) | Bikram Chandra Pradhan (TMC) | Sakti Pada Nayak (BJP), Sisir Patra (CPI) |
| Nayagram (ST) | Dulal Murmu (TMC) | NA | Bakul Murmu (BJP), Haripada Soren (CPI-M) |
| Gopiballavpur | Churamani Mahato (TMC) | Khagendranath Mahato (TMC) | Sanjit Mahato (BJP), Prashanta Das (CPI-M) |
| Jhargram | Sukumar Hansda (TMC) | Birbaha Hansda (TMC) | Sukhmoy Satpati (BJP), Madhuja Sen Roy (CPI-M) |
| Keshiary (ST) | Biram Mandi (CPI-M) | Pulin Bihari Baske (CPI-M) | Paresh Murmu (TMC), Sonali Murmu (BJP) |
| Kharagpur | Nazmul Haque (CPI-M) | SK Saddam Ali (CPI-M) | Dinen Ray (TMC), Tapan Bhuiya (BJP) |
| Garbeta | Ashish Chakraborty (TMC) | Uttara Singha (TMC) | Madan Ruidas (BJP), Tapan Ghosh (CPI-M) |
| Salboni | Srikanta Mahata (TMC) | NA | Rajib Kundu (BJP), Susanta Ghosh (CPI-M) |
| Medinipur | Mrigendra Nath Maiti (TMC) | June Malia (TMC) | Shamit Dash (BJP), Tarun Kumar Ghosh (CPI) |
| Binpur (ST) | Dibakar Hansda (CPI-M) | NA | Debnath Hansda (TMC), Palan Saren (BJP) |
| Bandwan (ST) | Sushanta Besra (CPI-M) | NA | Rajib Lochan Saren (TMC), Parsi Murmu (BJP) |
| Balarampur | Santiram Mahato (TMC) | NA | Baneswar Mahato (BJP), Uttam Banerjee (Congress) |
| Baghmundi | Nepal Mahata (Congress) | NA | Sushanta Mahato (TMC), Ashutosh Mahato (AJSU) |
| Joypur | Dhirenda Nath Mahato (AIFB) | NA | Dibyojyoti Singh Deo (Independent), Narahari Mahato (BJP) |
| Purulia | Sudip Mukherjee (Congress) | Sudip Mukherjee contesting as BJP candidate | Sujoy Banerjee (TMC), Partha Prathim Banerjee (CPI-M) |
| Manbazar (ST) | Sandhya Rani Tudu (TMC) | NA | Gouri Singh Sardar (BJP), Jaminikanta Mandi (CPI-M) |
| Kashipur | Swapan Kumar Belthariya (TMC) | NA | Kamalakanta Hansda (BJP), Mallika Mahata (CPI-M) |
| Para (SC) | Umapada Bauri (Congress) | Umpada bauri contesting at TMC candidate | Nadia Chand Bauri (BJP), Swapan Bauri (CPI-M) |
| Raghunathpur (SC) | Purna Chandra Bauri (TMC) | Hazari Bauri (TMC) | Bivekananda Bauri (BJP), Ganesh Bauri (CPI-M) |
| Saltora (SC) | Swapan Bauri (TMC) | Santosh Mondal (TMC) | Chandana Bauri (BJP), Nandadulal Bauri (CPI-M) |
| Chhatna | Dhirendra Nath Layek (RSP) | Falguni Mukherjee (RSP) | Subhasis Batabyal (TMC), Satyanarayan Mukherjee (BJP) |
| Ranibandh (ST) | Deblina Hembram (CPI-M) | NA | Jyostna Mandi (TMC), Khudiram Tudu (BJP), Deblina Hembram (CPI-M) |
| Raipur (ST) | Upen Kisku (CPI-M) | NA | Mrittunjay Murmu (TMC), Sudhangsu Hansda (BJP), Milan Mandi (ISF) |