NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its first list of candidates for 144 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, fielding several key leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh.While Dilip Ghosh has been fielded from Kharagpur Sadar, Suvendu Adhikari will contest the elections from two seats — Bhabanipur and Nandigram. This sets the stage for a likely face-off between Adhikary and Mamata Banerjee as Bhabanipur is currently represented by Mamata .In the 2021 Assembly elections, Suvendu contested from Nandigram and defeated Mamata Banerjee.Meanwhile, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul will contest the polls from Asansol South, while former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta will contest from the Rashbehari constituency.This comes a day after the Election Commission announced that the assembly polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29.While announcing the poll schedule for four states and one Union Territory, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that reducing the number of phases was necessary to make elections convenient for everyone.The counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 will take place on May 4, along with that of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.In the 2021 Bengal elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress secured 215 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party became the official opposition with 77 seats.