West Bengal polls phase 1: Candidates report asset surge since 2021; BJP”s Adhikari shows decline

Kolkata: TMC’s Jangipur candidate Jakir Hossain had declared that he has assets worth Rs 67 million in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls. Five years later, his poll declaration in 2026 showed assets doubling to over Rs 133 million, making him one of the richest candidates.

And he’s not alone.

Purulia MLA Sudip Kumar Mukherjee of the BJP, who is seeking re-election from the same seat, has seen an eye-watering 2,344 per cent increase in his assets from Rs 45 lakh in 2021 to Rs 11 billion in 2026.

Also Read: West Bengal assembly elections 2026: SC rejects EC’s plea against move to transfer chief secretary DGP and others

Many leading candidates seeking re-election in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls have announced a sharp increase in their assets, as per data compiled from their declarations.

Trinamool Congress’s Krishna Kalyani, who is seeking re-election from Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, has seen her assets rise by nearly 247 per cent to over Rs 20 billion in 2026 from around Rs 5.8 billion in 2021.
His party colleague Manas Ranjan Bhunia, contesting from Sabang in Paschim Medinipur district, more than doubled his assets to around Rs 15 million. In contrast, Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, reported a decline in his movable assets.

The 2026 poll manifesto of the BJP leader, who is seeking re-election from Nandigram and is also locked in a tough fight with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the south Kolkata bastion of Bhabanipur, showed his income rising from around Rs 8.13 lakh in 2020-21 to around Rs 17.38 lakh in 2024-25.

However, the value of its movable assets is around Rs 24.57 lakh, down from Rs 59.31 lakh reported in 2021.

In some cases, the increase in assets was very high in percentage terms.

While BJP’s Sukumar Ray, from Cooch Behar Uttar contesting, saw his assets rise by more than 300 per cent, candidates like BJP’s Chinmoy Deb Barman from Tufanganj seat and TMC’s Baharampur candidate Subrata Maitra reported an increase of over 150 per cent in their assets.

However, not all candidates reported an upward trend in the value of their assets.

Also Read: West Bengal assembly elections 2026: BJP emphasizes security, TMC aims for revival in Siliguri corridor

Besides Adhikari, Ruden Sada Lepcha, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha candidate in Kalimpong, TMC’s Suti candidate Emani Biswas and BJP’s Moyna candidate, cricketer-turned-politician Ashoke Dinda, announced a decline in the value of their assets compared to 2021.

The data, based on affidavits submitted to the Electoral Commission, reflects the financial profiles of candidates running again in the first round of voting on April 23.