Kolkata/Darjeeling: The BJP released its second list of 111 candidates for Bengal, banking on familiar faces — former MPs, sitting MLAs and veterans — while pipping longtime ally Gorkha National Liberation Front on three seats in the Darjeeling-Kalimpong hills, Rohit Khanna and Roshan Gupta report. Former MPs Nisith Pramanik (Mathabhanga), Arjun Singh (Noapada), Roopa Ganguly (Sonarpur South) and Dibyendu Adhikari (Egra) made the cut in the list of eight sitting MLAs, as did Ashok Kirtania (Bongaon North), Swapan Majumdar (Bongaon South) and Subrata Thakur (Gaighata). Other prominent names to receive nominations include Ritesh Tiwari (Kashipur-Belgachia), Priyanka Tibrewal (Entally) and Sanjay Singh (Balli).Former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar, who was appointed Kolkata Police Commissioner by the Election Commission for 50 days during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, got the ticket from Jagat Dal. The 1990-batch officer retired as principal secretary of the department of mass education and library services.There are 14 women in BJP’s second list, taking the total to 25 women so far. Rekha Patra, the face of BJP’s Sandeshkhali movement against arrested and suspended Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan, will contest elections from Hingalganj.In the hills, potential candidates of ally GNLF were not selected for any of the three constituencies – Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. The party founded by Subhash Ghisingh has been an NDA constituent for a decade, but has since been delisted by the Election Commission, leaving its aspiring candidates dependent on the BJP. GNLF general secretary Neeraj Zimba won Darjeeling as a BJP candidate in the 2021 elections. Earlier, he had won the 2019 by-election on the lotus symbol.The BJP nominated former Indian hockey captain Bharat Chhetri from Kalimpong and accommodated the GNLF’s rival Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in Darjeeling, fielding its young central general secretary Noman Rai. Kurseong ticket went to local BJP block president Sonam Lama.GNLF central panel spokesperson Y Lama said his party was not even consulted. “Our Central Committee will decide future actions.”Kharagpur Sadar MLA Hiran Chattopadhyay, whose seat was allotted to former state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, has been fielded from Shyampur. Tapas Roy, who won Maniktala on a Trinamool ticket in 2021 and joined the BJP before unsuccessfully contesting from Kolkata North in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has been fielded in his old constituency. Roopa Ganguly has been fielded from Sonarpur South.On the Kurmi front, the BJP decided to support independent candidate Vishwajit Mahato in Purulia’s Joypur. In its first list, the party had made former state president of Kurmi community Rajesh Mahato a candidate from Gopiballavpur. Both Rajesh and Ajit are pushing for ST status for the Kurmi community and inclusion of Kurmali in the Eighth Schedule.