Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 22 : All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday announced that the party will contest the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections in alliance with Humayun Kabir's Aam Janata Unnayan Party.
Owaisi, speaking exclusively toover the phone, said, "I will hold a press conference in Kolkata with Humayun Kabir on March 25."
Earlier on Thursday, Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder and former All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Humayun Kabir said that his party will contest 182 seats in the upcoming 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI, Kabir said, "I had already announced 15 candidates earlier. Now, Humayun Kabir will contest from Raninagar; he is also doing an additional job. Then, another businessman named Humayun Kabir will contest from Bhagwangola. Also, Manisha Pathak Pandey will contest from the 64-Murshidabad seat. So, with the 15 announced earlier and these three now, we have opened a list of 18 candidates today."
"My party, along with the alliance we are in, will contest in 182 seats. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will be a partner and will contest in approximately 8 of those seats," he added.
The West Bengal Assembly elections will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, 2026, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the first phase covering 152 Assembly constituencies will begin with the issuance of the gazette notification on March 30, 2026. The last date for filing nominations for this phase is April 6, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 7. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until April 9. Polling for the first phase will be held on April 23.
For the second phase, which covers 142 Assembly constituencies, the gazette notification will be issued on April 2, 2026. The last date for filing nominations is April 9, and the scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 10. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until April 13. Voting for this phase is scheduled for April 29.
West Bengal has a total of 6,45,61,152 electors as per the Election Commission of India, including 6,44,52,609 general electors and 1,08,543 service voters. The state has 5,23,229 young electors aged 18-19 years.
In West Bengal, the Legislative Assembly consists of 294 seats, with the primary contest expected to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The last assembly election in the state was held in eight phases in 2021 amid an intense contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress and Left Front drew a blank in the last state polls.
TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in the state since 2011.
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