Protests, dejection and call for retirement after several Trinamool Congress MLAs lose the ticket

A day after the Trinamool Congress announced candidates for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls, discontent surfaced among several senior party leaders who were denied a ticket.

Protests erupted at Amdanga in the State’s North 24 Parganas on Wednesday (March 18, 2026) after supporters of three-time MLA from Amdanga, Rafiqur Rahaman, were denied a ticket. His supporters blocked roads and burnt tyres while Mr. Rahaman urged the party leadership to reconsider their decision.

The Trinamool Congress has replaced the MLA with Peerzada Kasem Siddiqui, who hails from a family of religious leaders from Furfura in south Bengal.

Protest erupted at Jibantala in Canning Purba Assembly seat in South 24 Parganas after the party decided to field sitting MLA Saokat Molla from the Bhangar Assembly seat in the same district. Mr. Molla, an influential leader, wants to contest from Canning Purba. His supporters blocked roads by burning tyres at Jibantala. Bhangar was won by the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in the 2021 Assembly polls.

In the list of candidates announced on Tuesday (March 17, 2026), Trinamool Congress has dropped around 74 legislators and shifted another 15 MLAs to different constituencies. Several senior MLAs of the party expressed their anguish and said that they will go into political retirement.

Senior Trinamool MLA Asit Majumdar has been denied a ticket from Chinsurah and the party named Debangshu Bhattacharya as the candidate from the seat instead. Mr. Majumdar, who looked visibly upset, said that he has reached out to Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the development, and added that he was considering political retirement.

Among the MLAs who have been dropped is Tajmul Hossain from Harischandrapur constituency in Malda district. Mr. Hossain, who is a Minister in the outgoing Cabinet, said that he has been “betrayed” by the party.

Protests were also reported from Islampur, where senior MLA Abdul Karim Chowdhury was dropped. Veteran Dalit writer Manoranjan Bypari, whose name did not feature at the Balagarh Assembly seat in Hooghly, said that he must be lacking something.

The elections to the 294-member West Bengal Legislative Assembly will be held in two phases — on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.

Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, while announcing the names of candidates on Tuesday (March 17, 2026), sensed the discontent. “Not all names could be included in the candidate list. I will try to accommodate them in some other posts and allot them some other tasks. They shouldn’t misunderstand me. Because in every election, some fresh faces need to be brought in,” she had said.

There were protests by BJP workers on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) at Alipurduar against the nomination of Paritosh Das as the candidate. CPI(M) workers on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) ransacked a party office in Kaliganj, after the party nominated Sabina Yasmin, mother of nine-year-old Tamanna Khatun who was killed in political violence in 2025 at Kaliganj.