West Bengal BJP scotches buzz over ex-TMC councillors contesting civic polls

The BJP state unit on Friday ruled out seat-sharing arrangements with potential allies for the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections and scotched speculations that several former TMC councillors could fight the polls on its tickets.

The party held a series of strategy meetings on Friday to finalise preparations for the Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporations. The high-level discussions brought together state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya, Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar, and regional leaders, along with Central Observer Sunil Bansal, who arrived in Kolkata late Thursday evening ahead of follow-up meetings on Saturday.

Amid speculation over the BJP’s candidate selections, Bhattacharya said the party is yet to finalise its lists for the urban polls.

“Who will contest as a candidate has not yet been decided. I extend Bijoya Dashami greetings to all those whose names you are mentioning,” he said when asked about a few former TMC councillors.

“There is no party called Trinamool Congress. The BJP fought the elections in West Bengal on its own strength, and the people rejected TMC. The BJP learnt some lessons from the 2021 elections and based on that, fought the 2026 elections, forming the state government under Suvendu Adhikari’s leadership with a two-thirds majority. So the BJP didn’t come to power by anyone’s grace. The people of the state have faith; in Kolkata people have faith. We achieved results as expected in Kolkata. The people of Howrah also trust us. We are in a comfortable majority in both places. We will form our administration in both municipal corporations,” Bhattacharya said.

Reaffirming its commitment to contesting independently across all wards, the party ruled out any seat-sharing arrangements or alliances.

“We fought alone in this state and won so many seats. Naturally, we have not discussed any seat-sharing arrangement with allies so far,” said Sukanta Majumdar.

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He reiterated the party’s push to prioritise grassroot workers over recent crossovers. “What will happen with the TMC councillors in politics will be decided by the party in the coming days. We want most of the BJP workers to be the ones who get tickets. We do not want those who have switched allegiance,” he said.

According to party sources, if plans proceed as scheduled, the state BJP unit expects to finalise its candidate list before Kali Puja, with an official announcement expected by late October or early November.

According to sources, candidate selection in Howrah will heavily favour dedicated workers who stood by the BJP, with a clean public image serving as the top criterion to ensure candidates remain free from controversy. Leaders have also been directed to conduct granular reviews of local public grievances and bring attention to stalled development projects under the previous TMC regime.

Addressing rumours about potential defectors, BJP MLA Umesh Rai confirmed that candidates crossing over from the TMC or other parties will not receive tickets.

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Meanwhile, senior TMC leader and Mamata Banerjee faction MLA Kunal Ghosh took a jibe at the opposition, saying, “If the BJP fields anyone who has crossed over from the TMC, it must be understood that they do not have enough of their own people to nominate.”