Kolkata, May 4: Early trends from the counting of votes in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections indicate that BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has gained an initial lead over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhawanipur constituency. Adhikari was ahead in the first hour of counting, setting the stage for an exciting contest.
Once a trusted ally of Banerjee in the Trinamool Congress, Adhikari dealt a significant blow in the previous assembly elections by defeating her in Nandigram by a narrow margin of fewer than 2,000 votes. Following that defeat, Banerjee contested from Bhawanipur to retain her position as an assembly member.
Before this election, Adhikari reiterated his challenge, campaigning vigorously and targeting both Nandigram and Bhawanipur.
As of around 8:45 AM on Monday, the trends showed BJP gaining momentum, leading in 45 seats, while Trinamool Congress was ahead in 31 seats. The Congress party showed early leads in two constituencies.
Meanwhile, the counting of votes cast in the two phases of the assembly elections in West Bengal began at 8 AM, starting with postal ballots.
This time, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has made some changes to the counting process. In previous elections, the counting of votes began only after the postal ballots were fully counted.
However, this time, for the first 30 minutes, from 8 AM to 8:30 AM, only postal ballots will be counted. After 8:30 AM, the counting of postal ballots and EVM votes will occur simultaneously.
A source from the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office stated, “Postal ballots will be counted only during the first 30 minutes to ensure that their counting is completed before the EVM votes are counted. If the counting of postal ballots is not completed before the last two rounds of counting in any counting hall, the counting of EVM votes will be paused temporarily, and only postal ballots will be counted during that time. Once the postal ballot counting is complete, the counting of EVM votes will resume.”
They mentioned that following this new procedure would provide a clear trend in the results by noon.
On Monday, counting is taking place for only 293 of the state’s 294 assembly seats, as the Election Commission announced re-polling for the entire Falta assembly seat in South 24 Parganas on May 21, with results to be declared on May 24.
The competition in West Bengal is primarily between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the previous 2021 elections, the Trinamool Congress won 216 seats, while the BJP secured 77, and the All India Secular Front (AISF) won one seat.
Despite contesting in an alliance, both the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front failed to win any seats. This time, the main challenge for both the Congress and the Left Front is to re-establish their presence in the state assembly. Although the Left Front has a seat-sharing agreement with the AISF, they have contested the elections independently.
The assembly elections in West Bengal were held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with a record voter turnout of 93 percent. Most exit poll predictions, except for two, forecast the end of the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule and the beginning of BJP governance in West Bengal.
My name is Narendra Jijhontiya. I am an experienced content writer with several years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including TECHNOLOGY, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
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