Out on bail, Rakesh Singh gets BJP ticket from Kolkata Port
The Statesman | 10 April 2026
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced the candidature of Rakesh Singh from the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, confirming days of speculation following his release on bail.
The party’s sixth list of candidates, published earlier in the day, included Singh’s name, setting the stage for a high-profile contest against Firhad Hakim, a senior Trinamul Congress leader and a dominant figure in the constituency. Singh, who was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court earlier this week, wasted little time in launching his campaign. On Wednesday morning, he began door-to-door outreach programmes across several wards, signalling an aggressive start to his electoral bid in a constituency widely regarded as Hakim’s stronghold. His candidature comes against the backdrop of legal controversies.
Singh had been accused in connection with vandalism at a Congress office in central Kolkata’s Moulali area, where posters of Rahul Gandhi were allegedly defaced. The incident reportedly followed protests over remarks made during a rally in Bihar. Following the episode, Singh had remained untraceable for several days before being arrested by Kolkata Police in September last year from the Tangra area. Cases under multiple sections, including the Arms Act, were registered against him. Several of his associates were also taken into custody, along with his son, Shivam Singh, who was later granted bail.
While Singh’s bail pleas were earlier rejected, the Bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda of the Calcutta High Court granted him relief on 6 April, leading to his release from custody on Tuesday. Political observers note that Singh’s nomination marks a calculated move by the BJP to field a combative candidate against Hakim in the Kolkata Port constituency. Notably, Singh’s name had also surfaced as a candidate in the previous Assembly election, but his arrest at the time prevented him from entering the fray. With his candidature now formalised, the Kolkata Port seat is set to witness an intense electoral contest in the run-up to the forthcoming Assembly polls.