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Sources said winnability, followed by constituency’s feedback, track record of anti-party activities and social media imprint will help decide re-nomination
The BJP won 77 seats in 2021 but a series of exodus, mainly to the TMC, brought down the tally to 65. (PTI)
Weeks after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources suggested that tickets of nearly 100 sitting MLAs may be cut in the run up to the all-important 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections, a similar trend is likely to be followed in West Bengal, where assembly elections are due early next year. Sources suggest one-third of BJP’s sitting MLAs “are at risk of not being re-nominated for various reasons”.
The BJP won 77 seats in 2021 but a series of exodus, mainly to the TMC, brought down the tally to 65. No wonder, the party will replace all those candidates, like its brain of 2021 election Mukul Roy who won from Krishna Nagar seat, Tanmoy Ghosh—who joined the TMC on August 30, 2021, accusing the BJP of indulging in “vindictive politics”—or Biswajit Das, a former BJP MLA from Bagda in North 24 Parganas who joined the TMC on September 3, 2021.
Roy’s status is contested because he defected from BJP to TMC without resigning, triggering anti-defection law disputes and controversy over his appointment to a key legislative committee. The Assembly Speaker ruled in his favour, but the matter remains legally and politically contentious.
BJP’s national general secretary and Bengal in-charge Sunil Bansal, who is said to be ‘lenient’ with the Bengal leadership, had earlier given a sense that all sitting MLAs who are still with BJP need not worry about re-nomination complications.
However, as feedback from the state followed, which was marked with instances of perceived anti-party activities (former national secretary Anupam Hazra had to be removed in 2023, Dilip Ghosh attending Mamata Banerjee’s Jagannath Mandir inauguration boycotted by BJP raised eyebrows), the party leadership was insistent on BJP’s nationwide performance-based re-nomination procedure in Bengal as well.
According to party sources, winnability, followed by constituency’s feedback, track record of anti-party activities, social media imprint will help decide re-nomination. Sources say even without third-party feedback, BJP says “at least one-third” of its sitting MLAs can’t make the cut if the parameters are strictly adhered to.
In Uttar Pradesh, where news of dropping 100 sitting MLAs surprised many, BJP sources suggested at least 70–80 constituencies were expected to witness fresh faces. Is Bengal going the UP way? “There will be fresh faces in Bengal poll but that number won’t be as big as in UP. We will have to wait for that till the central election committee meeting. But there is a chance for the party to try some national faces in Bengal assembly election this time,” said a BJP source, requesting anonymity.
While there is no official word from either the BJP or its leaders, there is a buzz in Bengal that the saffron party is considering fielding former Members of Parliament who lost in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but, according to the party, have enough fight left in them to mount an aggressive campaign in the assembly election.
Some names include former minister of state for youth affairs and sports and home affairs Nishith Pramanik, former MP of Barrackpore and strongman of Bhatpara Arjun Singh, and former MP Locket Chatterjee.
Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in …Read More
Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in … Read More
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