With the release of the Assembly candidate list for 2026, speculation and expectations within the district Trinamul Congress (TMC) unit have been laid to rest. The exclusion of 10 sitting MLAs and their replacement with new faces has come as a surprise to many.
However, eight senior district leaders have been re-selected as candidates for the Assembly elections. They have expressed their heartfelt gratitude to party chairperson Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for reposing faith in their ability to serve the people.
Hooghly district has 18 Assembly constituencies: Uttarpara, Sreerampur, Champdani, Singur, Chandannagar, Chinsurah, Balagarh, Pandua, Saptagram, Chanditala, Jangipara, Haripal, Dhanekhali, Tarakeswar, Pursurah, Arambag, Goghat and Khanakul.
The new candidates announced for Hooghly district include Sirsanya Bandyopadhyay (Uttarpara), Tanmoy Ghosh (Sreerampur), replacing Dr Sudipta Roy, Debangshu Bhattacharya (Chinsurah), replacing Asit Mazumdar, Ranjan Dhara (Balagarh), Samir Chakraborty (Pandua), Bidesh Bose (Saptagram), Partha Hajari (Pursurah), Mita Bag (Arambag), Dr Nirmal Majhi (Goghat), and Palash Roy (Khanakul).
Those re-selected as candidates are Arindam Guin (Champdani), Becharam Manna (Singur), Indranil Sen (Chandannagar), Swati Khandoker (Chanditala), Snehasis Chakraborty (Jangipara), Dr Karabi Manna (Haripal), Asima Patra (Dhanekhali), and Ramendu Sinha Roy (Tarakeswar).
Becharam Manna expressed his gratitude to Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee for their continued confidence in him and reaffirmed his commitment to serving the people.
Asit Mazumdar said he had been with the party since its inception and had consistently fought against the CPI-M, Congress and BJP. A three-time MLA from Chinsurah, he said it was the party’s decision to replace him, adding that the leadership believes Debangshu Bhattacharya can put up a stronger fight. He indicated that he may step back from active politics to focus on reading and social welfare work, but added that if he remains in the party, he will campaign for Debangshu.
Responding to the development, Debangshu Bhattacharya said Asit Mazumdar is a highly experienced and senior TMC leader. Acknowledging that he may be unhappy with the decision, Debangshu added that Mazumdar is like a father figure to him and expressed confidence that he would extend his support and continue to serve the party.