Kolkata, 19 March (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced its second list of 112 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, while also making a minor change in its first list.

In the latest list, the party has fielded Hiran Chatterjee from Shyampur in Howrah, while actor-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly will contest from Sonarpur South against Trinamool Congress nominee Lovely Maitra. Former Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh has been nominated from Noapara, where he will face TMC’s Trinankur Bhattacharya.

The BJP has fielded lawyer Kaustav Bagchi from Barrackpore, where he will take on TMC’s Raj Chakraborty. However, the party is yet to announce a candidate for Panihati, which does not feature in the second list.

Former Union minister Nisith Pramanik has been fielded from Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar district, while Papiya Adhikari will contest from Tollygunge against state minister Aroop Biswas. In Jadavpur, the BJP has nominated Sharbari Mukherjee, where she will face TMC’s Debabrata Majumdar and CPI(M)’s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.

Priyanka Tibrewal has been fielded from Entally, while doctor Shardwata Mukherjee will contest from Bidhannagar against minister Sujit Bose. Tarunjyoti Tiwari has been nominated from Rajarhat-Gopalpur.

In Kolkata, Indranil Khan will contest from Behala West against TMC’s Ratna Chatterjee, while Sunil Maharaj has been fielded from Behala East. Ritesh Tiwari will contest from Kashipur-Belgachia, Tapas Roy from Maniktala and Shatarupa from Ballygunge.

In North 24 Parganas, Debdas Mandal has been fielded from Habra against TMC’s Jyotipriya Mallick, while former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar will contest from Jagaddal. Sanat Sardar has been nominated from Sandeshkhali and Rekha Patra from Hingalganj.

From East Midnapore’s Egra, the party has fielded Dibyendu Adhikari, brother of Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. Sudip Mukherjee and Niladrishekhar Dana have been renominated from Purulia and Bankura Sadar, respectively.

The BJP said it had earlier announced 144 candidates in its first list and has now declared 112 more, leaving 38 seats yet to be finalised. The party has also replaced its candidate in Bishnupur, fielding Biswajit Khan instead of the earlier nominee.

The second list includes 20 women candidates.

Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey