Out of 35 ministers from the outgoing Trinamool Congress (TMC) government who contested the 2026 West Bengal elections, 22 have been defeated, including the Chief Minister herself in her own constituency. Mamata Banerjee lost her home turf, Bhabanipur, to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari by 15,105 votes. The BJP’s landslide win in West Bengal marks a historic political shift, breaching the party’s last major eastern barrier and completing its ‘Anga-Banga-Kalinga’ arc. With 206 seats, it ends TMC’s 15-year rule and reshapes the state’s power dynamics.
Several ministers, handling critical profiles such as women and child development, industry, housing, power, education, transport and backward classes have all lost their seats.
Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja was defeated by BJP's Purnima Chakraborty by 14,633 votes in Shyampukur assembly constituency. Chakraborty secured 60,248 votes, while Panja got 45,615 votes. A three-time MLA from the Shyampukur seat in north Kolkata since 2011, Panja has been a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government since 2013, holding various portfolios, including the Women and Child Development department.
TMC's Asansol Uttar constituency candidate and minister Moloy Ghatak, who was seeking re-election for the fourth consecutive term, lost to the BJP's Krishnendu Mukherjee by 11,615 votes. A senior TMC leader in the coal mine belt of West Bengal, he held the Law and Labour departments in the Mamata Banerjee government.
Ghatak was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the probe into the money trail of the alleged coal pilferage scam in the state.
Chandrima Bhattacharya, state Finance minister was defeated in Dum Dum Uttar constituency by 26,404 votes by BJP's Sourav Sikdar.
Education minister Bratya Basu lost from the adjacent Dum Dum constituency by 25,273 votes..
TMC minister Becharam Manna was defeated in Singur, one of the focal points of the campaign in the West Bengal assembly elections over the abandoned Tata Nano car factory, by BJP's Arup Kumar Das by 21,438 votes.
1. Mamata Banerjee (Chief Minister) — Bhabanipur (159)
2. Aroop Biswas (Housing, Power) — Tollygunge (152)
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
