The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has surprised many poll experts by leading in over 200 constituencies. According to the Election Commission’s dashboard at 12.30 pm, the TMC is leading in over 202 constituencies while the BJP is leading in 77 constituencies. With this lead, Trinamool Congress will form the government in West Bengal for the third time as they crossed the halfway mark before noon.
Many predicted that it would be a close contest between the TMC and the BJP in West Bengal. Although some suggested that TMC would retain power, nobody imagined that they would lead by a massive margin. In the run-up to the Assembly election, TMC and the BJP indulged in bitter campaigning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah launching an all-out attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP were confident that they would form a government in West Bengal by defeating TMC. However, that does not seem to be the case.
Despite the TMC likely to retain power, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is still leading over Mamata in Nandigram. However, the lead has slightly reduced in comparison to the morning trends. At 11 am, Suvendu was leading by 4,728 votes. However, as of 12.35 pm, the lead reduced to 3,775 with Mamata making a small comeback. However, the question arises whether Mamata made a mistake by not contesting from two constituencies.
Suvendu was Mamata’s closest aide when the former was in the Trinamool Congress (TMC). He helped the TMC win from Nandigram numerous times. However, everything changed when Suvendu joined the BJP in December 2020. Following Suvendu’s exit, several TMC leaders also joined the saffron party.
However, with the TMC leading currently, the leaving of TMC MPs and MLAs to the BJP did very little damage to the ruling party. Despite trailing, the BJP has shown better performance in comparison to the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections.
