BJP fields Shantanu Thakur’s wife from Bagda, Santosh Pathak in Chowringhee

Kolkata: The BJP on Tuesday released its fourth list of 13 candidates for the West Bengal Assembly polls, fielding Union minister of state, Shantanu Thakur’s wife Soma Thakur from the Matua-dominated Bagda seat, in a move seen as an attempt to consolidate the influential refugee community vote.

With this, the party has announced candidates for 288 of the 294 seats, leaving six constituencies undeclared.

Soma Thakur’s candidature from Bagda in North 24-Parganas is among the most politically significant picks. With the BJP seeking to strengthen its outreach to the Matua community, her candidature is expected to play a decisive role in several seats across southern Bengal.

The contest in Bagda is set to be closely watched, with the Trinamool Congress fielding sitting MLA Madhuparna Thakur, who is Shantanu Thakur’s cousin, adding a personal dimension to the contest.

Speaking after being named a candidate, Soma Thakur said she was familiar with campaigning, having supported her husband during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. On allegations that names of several Matua voters were missing from electoral rolls, she said some names had been left out but described it as a temporary issue that would be corrected.

Her candidature comes against the backdrop of a row within the Thakur family last year. A dispute had erupted between Shantanu Thakur and his elder brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, over the issuance of caste certificates and Matua cards.

Subrata had also alleged that Shantanu had tried to field his wife from Gaighata and accused him of exerting pressure within the party to secure a Union ministerial berth. However, the BJP has fielded Subrata from the Gaighata seat.

Meanwhile, in Chowringhee, the BJP fielded Santosh Pathak, a five-time Congress councillor who joined the party on March 23 in the presence of state president

Samik Bhattacharya.

The party also named former IPS officer Debashish Dhar from Sonarpur Uttar, whose Lok Sabha nomination was earlier rejected for failing to furnish a “no dues” certificate. Other candidates include Ashutosh Barma (Sitai), Girija Shankar Roy (Natabari), Uttam Kumar Banik (Magrahat Purba), Debangshu Panda (Falta), Shyamal Hati (Howrah Dakshin), Ranjan Kumar Paul (Panchla), Piyushkanti Das (Chandipur), Pradip Lodha (Garbeta), Manab Guha (Memari) and Arijit Roy (Bansdroni). Dalim Roy replaced Kaushik Roy in Maynaguri.