Kolkata 04 May (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on course for a historic victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, surging well past the majority mark as counting progressed on Monday.
According to trends and results available till 5 pm, the BJP had won 18 seats and was leading in 184 of the 293 constituencies. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had secured eight seats and was ahead in 77. Other parties, including the Congress and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, were leading in two seats each, while the All India Secular Front (AISF) and the CPI(M) were ahead in one seat each.
Among key wins, the BJP bagged seats such as Monteswar and Bhatar in Purba Bardhaman, Asansol South in Paschim Bardhaman, and Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Medinipur, Khardah, Jagatballavpur, Ranibandh and Jamuria. The TMC registered victories in Bhagawangola in Murshidabad, Sujapur in Malda and Metiabruz in Kolkata.
In the high-profile Bhabanipur constituency, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was locked in a tight contest with BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. After trailing initially, Banerjee gained a lead, though the margin narrowed later in the day. After 13 rounds of counting, she was ahead by around 5,000 votes.
Several senior TMC leaders, including Malay Ghatak, Shashi Panja, Udayan Guha, Paresh Chandra Adhikari, Sujit Bose, Birbaha Hansda, Rajib Banerjee and Indranil Sen, were trailing, according to trends.
Among prominent candidates from other parties, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Kolkata mayor and CPI(M) candidate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, state Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar and former Union minister Mausam Noor were trailing.
On the other hand, key BJP leaders such as Nisith Pramanik, Roopa Ganguly, Dilip Ghosh, Swapan Dasgupta, Arjun Singh, Tapas Roy and Rekha Patra were leading. Adhikari was also ahead in Nandigram.
The BJP performed strongly in the industrial belt of Paschim Bardhaman, leading in all nine seats in the Asansol-Durgapur region. The party also made significant gains in the tribal-dominated Junglemahal region, comprising Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram districts, leading in a majority of seats.
In North Bengal, where the BJP already had a strong base, the party further consolidated its position, leading in most seats across Darjeeling, Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts. It was also ahead in Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur.
Meanwhile, Banerjee urged party candidates and counting agents to remain at counting centres and alleged delays in counting where the TMC was leading. She also questioned the role of the Election Commission.
Adhikari claimed that division of minority votes had helped the BJP perform better even in Muslim-majority areas such as Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur, where the party was leading in several seats.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
