Kolkata: West Bengal BJP unit president Dilip Ghosh has once again reiterated that he will not contest in this election. Rather, he will do the job of the party and propagate the candidates throughout the state. The BJP is now going to give a ticket to National Vice President Mukul Roy from Nadia assembly constituency. Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said, "I will not be named in the list of candidates contesting the elections. The BJP has decided that as party president, it will be under my leadership to campaign across the state and accordingly I am also working," he said.

Polling for 294 assembly constituencies in Bengal is scheduled to be held in eight phases. Voting for the first phase will be held on March 27. The second phase will be held on April 1. The third phase of voting has been scheduled for April 6. 44 seats will go to polls in the fourth phase on April 10. The fifth phase of elections will be held on April 17, where 45 seats will go to polls. In addition, 43 seats will be in the sixth phase on April 22, 36 seats under the seventh phase on April 26, while 35 seats will be in the final and eighth phases. The results will be announced on May 2.

The BJP has fielded 22 defectors out of its 122 candidates announced so far. Most of these include leaders who joined the BJP from the Trinamool Congress, including Shubhendu Adhikari and Rajiv Banerjee. In the first list of 59 BJP candidates, there are eight defectors, including officials and former CPI (M) MLA Tapas Mandal. In addition, there are 12 defectors in the second list of 63 candidates.

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