Congress Releases First List of 284 Candidates for West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026, Opts to Contest All Seats Solo

In a significant step ahead of the two-phase West Bengal Assembly polls, the Indian National Congress on Sunday announced its first list of 284 candidates for the 294-member state legislature. The party has decided to go it alone across every constituency, rejecting any alliances and responding to strong demands from its grassroots workers and state unit.

The announcement, made by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal in Delhi, followed an extensive meeting of the Central Election Committee the previous day. Top leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, and senior figures such as Ambika Soni, Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Khurshid, and others, participated in the deliberations. Over 2,500 applications were received for the seats.

Congress has fielded 39 women candidates, 68 from Scheduled Castes, and 16 from Scheduled Tribes. Prominent names in the list include veteran leader and former state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who will contest from Baharampur - a constituency linked to his long-held Lok Sabha seat. Chowdhury, who has expressed interest in returning to the Assembly after nearly three decades, is seen as a key face for the party’s revival efforts in Murshidabad and surrounding areas.

Another high-profile pick is former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor, who recently rejoined Congress, came back from TMC. She has been nominated from Malatipur in Malda district. Other notable candidates include Madhap Rai from Darjeeling, Abdul Hannan from Sujapur, Susmita Biswas from Dum Dum, Gautam Bhattacharya from Diamond Harbour, Souvik Mukherjee from Asansol Dakshin, Prasenjit Puitandi from Asansol Uttar, Pradip Prasad from Bhabanipur, and Rohan Mitra from Ballygunge. Mitra is the son of the late Congress leader Somen Mitra, adding an element of continuity in Kolkata’s southern constituencies.

AICC in-charge for West Bengal, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, emphasised the party’s independent strategy. “We will contest all 294 assembly seats in West Bengal, leaving none vacant. This was the wish of our workers and rank and file in the state since the beginning,” he stated, underscoring the rank-and-file push for a full-fledged contest.

The move marks a departure from the 2021 polls, when Congress had allied with the Left Front but failed to secure even a single seat in the 294-member Assembly. In February 2026, the party formally resolved to fight the elections independently, signalling a renewed push to rebuild its organisational strength and capitalise on reported anti-incumbency sentiments against the ruling Trinamool Congress.

West Bengal’s Assembly elections are scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with results expected on May 4. The Congress list leaves room for a few more names to be announced later for the remaining seats, but the bulk of the slate has now been finalised in one go.

With the Trinamool Congress having already unveiled its full candidate list earlier this month and other opposition parties like the BJP and Left Front also finalising their final line-ups, the entry of Congress as a solo contender adds another layer of complexity to what is shaping up as a fiercely competitive multi-cornered contest in the state.​