Kolkata, 18 September (H.S.) : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its list of 40 star campaigners for the upcoming Assembly by-elections in the Rejinagar and Nandigram constituencies. The list features prominent senior leaders, including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state party president Samik Bhattacharya.

Polling for both seats is scheduled for October 6, just ahead of the Durga Puja festival. Having secured a historic victory to capture power in West Bengal from the Trinamool Congress a few months ago, the ruling party is eager to sustain its winning momentum through these by-elections.

According to party sources, the upcoming contests are being treated as a crucial semifinal ahead of the municipal and corporation elections in Kolkata, Howrah, and other urban bodies slated for after the festival season. Despite holding state power, the BJP has yet to secure control over any municipal corporation. Party leadership aims to strengthen its grassroots political footprint through successive wins in municipal and upcoming panchayat polls. The list of star campaigners was finalized following clearance from the central leadership and released on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.

The 40-member star campaigners list includes Samik Bhattacharya, Suvendu Adhikari, Mithun Chakraborty, Sunil Bansal, Rahul Sinha, Dilip Ghosh, Sukanta Majumdar, Shantanu Thakur, Madhuparna Kar, Manoj Tigga, Subhas Sarkar, Mafuja Khatun, Probal Raha, Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, Locket Chatterjee, Saumitra Khan, Amitabh Chakraborty, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Soumendu Adhikari, Agnimitra Paul, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Shankar Ghosh, Arup Kumar Das, Gouri Shankar Ghosh, Nisith Pramanik, Indranil Khan, Harekrishna Bera, Ashok Dinda, Gargi Das Ghosh, Shantanu Pramanik, Bharati Ghosh, Rupa Ganguly, Rudranil Ghosh, Hiranmoy Chatterjee, Falguni Patra, Sujit Biswas, Chitta Mukhopadhyay, Sukhen Kumar Bagdi, Subrata Moitra, and Samarendranath Ghosh.

During the recent state assembly elections, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari secured victories from both the Bhowanipore and Nandigram constituencies. He retained Bhowanipore and subsequently resigned from Nandigram, triggering the current by-election. Adhikari's political ascent is deeply rooted in Nandigram, where he first gained widespread prominence during the historical land acquisition protests. He has previously won three consecutive terms from the constituency under different political banners.

The Chief Minister has repeatedly emphasized his emotional bond with Nandigram, assuring residents that his resignation from the legislative seat will not affect his commitment to their needs. For the upcoming by-election, the BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath, the mother of Adhikari's late former personal assistant Chandranath Rath. Given the Chief Minister's deep family ties with the Rath household, the Nandigram contest serves as a high-stakes prestige battle, with Adhikari slated to lead an aggressive campaign push for the party's candidate.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh