Counting Trends By 11:30 AM: BJP Leads In 147 Seats, TMC At 82

Initial counting trends in the West Bengal Assembly elections on Monday indicated a strong early advantage for the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the party ahead in a significantly larger number of seats compared to the ruling Trinamool Congress.

As per data available around 11:30 AM on the Election Commission of India website, trends had been declared for 232 out of 293 constituencies. Of these, BJP candidates were leading in 147 seats, while the Trinamool Congress was ahead in 82. The Left Front–AISF alliance had a lead in one seat, and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party also registered a lead in one constituency.

The AJUP candidate Humayun Kabir was ahead in Rejinagar, located in Murshidabad district, an area with a significant minority population.

In one of the most closely watched contests, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was trailing by a narrow margin against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata. Adhikari was also leading in Nandigram in East Midnapore, where he is contesting alongside Bhabanipur.

During the counting process, West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stated that any victory procession would require prior approval from district authorities. He also urged political parties to remain calm and avoid unrest after the results come in.

To maintain order, the Election Commission has decided to keep 700 companies of central forces deployed across the state until further notice, aiming to prevent incidents of post-election violence similar to those reported in 2021.

Separately, repolling for the entire Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas district will take place on May 21, and the result will come out on May 24.

Also Read: Counting Trends By 10:30 AM: BJP Ahead In 4 Districts, TMC Yet To Open Account