There are 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal.

While Tudu will be pitted against TMC’s Kalipada Soren in Jhargram, Dhar will contest the election against three-time TMC MP Satabdi Roy from Birbhum seat. On March 9, BJP Jhargram MP Kunar Hembram quit the party, citing personal reasons. Sources, however, had claimed that he had left the party after learning that he was unlikely to get a ticket to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. On March 20, IPS officer Debashish Dhar resigned from service citing “personal reasons”, which had raised speculation that he might contest the election on a BJP ticket.

Dhar was suspended as the Superintendent of Police of Cooch Behar after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections during which four people were killed in Sitalkuchi area of the district in alleged firing by central forces.

The BJP, however, had claimed that Dhar’s suspension was “political vendetta” by the TMC as he had presented an “actual report” of the firing incident.

The TMC meanwhile, took a dig at the BJP for not announcing a candidate in Diamond Harbour seat. Senior TMC leader Santanu Sen wrote on X: “The BJP is yet to find a person to face the Royal Bengal Tiger in Diamond Harbour Abhishek Banerjee, the National General Secretary of TMC. They couldn’t find a candidate for Asansol too, where the candidate they declared ran away before (the polls).”

Earlier in March, the BJP had decided to field Bhojpuri actor and singer Pawan Singh from Asansol. However, a day later, Singh had stated that he wouldn’t be contesting the elections.