The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has officially submitted its list of 40 star campaigners to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ahead of the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026, scheduled for April 23 and 29.
The star-studded list features Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President J. P. Nadda, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Adding both political weight and mass appeal, the list also includes veteran actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty, alongside newly inducted BJP member and tennis legend Leander Paes. Bollywood personalities Kangana Ranaut and Hema Malini further add star power to the campaign lineup.
Supporters of the BJP have hailed the lineup as a high-energy, development-focused campaign team aimed at expanding the party’s footprint in Bengal. However, critics from the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) have labeled the list as “outsider-heavy,” questioning its local connect.
The BJP is aiming to significantly improve its performance from the 2021 elections, where it secured 77 seats, while the TMC, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, won a commanding 213 seats in the 294-member assembly.
With political temperatures rising, the announcement signals the BJP’s aggressive push to challenge the TMC’s dominance in what promises to be a fiercely contested electoral battle.
