Kolkata, May 4 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surged past the majority mark in the West Bengal Assembly elections on counting day, crossing 200 seats in the 294-member House and positioning itself to form the next government.
The Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was headed towards a significant defeat after 15 years in power, according to early trends.
The majority mark in the Assembly stands at 148 seats. With leads well beyond that figure, the BJP appeared set to secure a decisive mandate in a high-stakes contest.
The election witnessed a direct contest between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, with Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari emerging as a key figure for the BJP. Adhikari, once a close aide of Banerjee, has been central to the party’s campaign.
Polling was held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with repolling conducted in parts of the state, including the Falta constituency.
Other players in the fray included the Congress and the Left Front, while a new political outfit led by suspended Trinamool MLA Humayun Kabir added a localised dimension to the contest.
The election assumed significance as it followed a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which saw large-scale deletion of voters, becoming a major political issue during campaigning.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress had secured 215 seats, while the BJP won 77, emerging as the principal opposition. The Congress and the Left had failed to open their account.
This time, attention remained on key constituencies such as Bhabanipur, where Banerjee sought to retain her political ground amid a renewed challenge from the BJP, and Nandigram, which had been the focal point in the previous election.
Counting trends indicated a shift in the state’s political landscape, with the BJP making substantial gains across regions.