{"id":207265,"date":"2026-03-13T12:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T07:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/?p=207265"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T07:01:23","slug":"bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas\/","title":{"rendered":"BJP Finalizes Candidates for 150+ Seats in Bengal; Focus on Retaining Sitting MLAs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With the West Bengal Assembly elections approaching, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accelerated its candidate selection process. Sources reveal that the party\u2019s Central Election Committee, in a meeting at the Prime Minister\u2019s residence, has finalized candidates for over 150 constituencies. A key highlight of this strategy is the decision to retain 87\u201388% of the party&#8217;s current MLAs for the upcoming polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The few MLAs (roughly 10\u201312%) missing from the shortlist have reportedly opted out due to health or age-related concerns. However, the party is taking a distinct approach for Kolkata and its peripheral regions, where the focus is shifting toward fielding individuals with high local credibility and clean public images, rather than relying solely on traditional party figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State BJP leadership, having concluded the strategic deliberations in Delhi, is keeping the official list under wraps, waiting for the formal announcement of election dates. Speculation is high that the Election Commission will announce the poll schedule on March 16. With indications that the election may be conducted in only one to three phases, the political landscape in Bengal is bracing for a high-intensity battle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the West Bengal Assembly elections approaching, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accelerated its candidate selection process. Sources reveal that the party\u2019s Central Election Committee, in a meeting at the Prime Minister\u2019s residence, has finalized candidates for over 150 constituencies. A key highlight of this strategy is the decision to retain 87\u201388% of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BJP Finalizes Candidates for 150+ Seats in Bengal; Focus on Retaining Sitting MLAs - Ekjhalak English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BJP Finalizes Candidates for 150+ Seats in Bengal; Focus on Retaining Sitting MLAs - Ekjhalak English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the West Bengal Assembly elections approaching, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accelerated its candidate selection process. 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A key highlight of this strategy is the decision to retain 87\u201388% of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ekjhalak English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T07:01:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/j7987i7-33.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/bjp-finalizes-candidates-for-150-seats-in-bengal-focus-on-retaining-sitting-mlas\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newsfed.in\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2675bfb1eca0a20263624f94dfec6582\"},\"headline\":\"BJP Finalizes Candidates for 150+ Seats in Bengal; 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