West Bengal polls Phase 2: Mamata Banerjee vs Suvendu Adhikari in high-stakes Kolkata battle

Kolkata: Several high-profile candidates including outgoing chief minister Mamata Banerjee and outgoing leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari will be in the fray as West Bengal heads to the second and final phase of assembly polls on Wednesday.

Voters in 142 constituencies across South Bengal and Kolkata will cast their franchise to elect their representatives. The candidates include several ministers in Banerjee’s cabinet.
Out of the total 1,448 candidates, 220 are women, while 1,228 are men.


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More than 32 million people are expected to participate in the second phase. This would comprise over 16.4 million male, 15.7 female, and 792 transgender voters. The smallest constituency is Bhatpara in terms of electorate, while the largest is Chunchura.

Around 2,500 companies of central armed police forces have been deployed, along with motorbike Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to ensure security and prompt action in the narrow alleys of Kolkata and adjacent areas. The Bengal-CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, in a message to the people of the state, said, “We have made all arrangements for free, fair and peaceful polls. More than 2500 companies of CAPF have been deployed and I have spoken to all SPs, CPs personally. 100% webcasting full-proof has been arranged. I urge all to come and exercise their statutory rights. If anyone is stopping you, don’t pay head to it as nobody will be able to harm you.”

The second phase will see polling in eight major districts, including Kolkata North, Kolkata South, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, and Purba Bardhaman, Nadia, and Howrah. These seats—strongholds of the Trinamool Congress—are expected to see a tough fight from the BJP this time.

In the first phase, 152 constituencies in 16 districts went to the polls, clocking a record voter turnout of more than 92%.

Also Read: West Bengal Election 2026 Phase 2 - How find your name in voter list, download voter ID & be poll-ready

Key Candidates & Seats
The second phase will decide the fate of Trinamool supremo and outgoing CM and Bhabanipur MLA Mamata Banerjee from her home turf, who will be in a high-voltage faceoff with outgoing Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari had also contested from Nandigram in the first phase.

Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim is contesting BJP candidate Rakesh Singh from the minority-dominated Kolkata Port constituency, seen as crucial for the ruling party in central Kolkata. Power minister Aroop Biswas from Tollygunge, education minister Bratya Basu from Dum Dum, and agriculture minister Shobondeb Chattopadhyay from Ballygunge are also in the fray.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta is the BJP candidate from Rashbehari while actor-politician Roopa Ganguly is contesting from Sonarpur Dakshin seat.

Ratna Debnath, the mother of an RG Kar Hospital doctor whose daughter was raped and murdered in 2024, is contesting as a BJP candidate from the Panihati constituency in North 24 Parganas.

Indian Secular Front’s (ISF) Nawsad Siddique, the only non-BJP opposition MLA in the state assembly, is contesting from the Bhangar seat in South Parganas.

Jadavpur seat with its historical value, where Mamata Banerjee had defeated the then leader of CPI-M Somnath Chattopadhyay, was won by former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. He had contested from the seat in 2021 and got defeated, which was his last election. CPI-M’s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya is contesting the seat this year.

Battleground Bhabanipur
All eyes would be on Bhabanipur where Banerjee is fighting Adhikari in her home turf. Banerjee won with a record margin of 58,832 votes in a bypoll in 2021 after losing to Adhikari in Nandigram.

However, with the recent SIR exercise in the state saw 47,111 voters getting deleted from the constituency in the final electoral roll published on February 28, while another 14,154 voters are currently under judicial adjudication.