Kolkata (TIP):  The BJP on Thursday, March 18,  announced its list of 157 candidates for the last four phases of assembly election in West Bengal, rewarding around 22 turncoats and fielding party heavyweights Mukul Roy and Rahul Sinha. The candidate list also features 17 Muslim faces, including women. The party is facing protests and resignations as many of its aspiring old-timers did not find their names in the list of candidates.

Roy’s son Subranghshu, a sitting TMC MLA, state BJP Mahila Morcha president Agnimitra Paul, Bengali film personalities Rudranil Ghosh, Srabanti Chattopadhyay and Parno Mitra were among those given tickets by the saffron party.

Roy, BJP national vice-president and former union minister, is back in the electoral fray after a gap of two decades.

He will contest from the Krishnanagar Uttar seat, which is dominated by the Matua community. He had unsuccessfully contested election on a TMC ticket in 2001.

The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition in the state, has also fielded sports personalities and a scientist for the high stakes battle in the state.

Despite protests over recruits getting more importance than old-timers in the candidates’ list, the party gave nominations to 22 turncoats, including several former TMC MLAs like Arindam Bhattacharya who has been fielded in Jagatdal and Jitendra Tiwari in Pandaveswar.

However, in some cases, the saffron party has not given nominations to turncoats from their home seats to avoid dissent.

The list also has 19 women candidates, which is more than its previous two lists.

The party continued with its strategy of fielding personalities from different walks of life and sitting MPs.

It named folk artiste Ashim Sarkar from Haringhata assembly seat and scientist Gobhardhan Das from Purbasthali Uttar.

It has fielded its former state unit chief Rahul Sinha, who is yet to taste success in any of the elections he has contested so far, from Habra against the state Food Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick.

The BJP has nominated party MP Jagannath Sarkar for the Santipur seat. The party has so far announced names of five sitting MPs, including Union minister Babul Supriyo, as its candidates for the state election.