Prominent TMC leaders trailing; celebrations start at BJP office in Kolkata

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Prominent ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, including ministers, were trailing in the party’s strongholds, as per trends on Monday, even as celebrations started at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state headquarters in Kolkata as it led in 174 of the 293 assembly seats. The TMC was ahead in 94 seats around 12 noon. Exit polls showed the BJP was on course for a historic victory. (PTI)Ministers Shashi Panja, Sujit Bose, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, Debasish Kumar, and Udayan Guha were among the prominent faces of the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet who were trailing. Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty called the electoral roll Special Intensive Revision (SIR), polarisation of Hindu and Muslim voters, and the anti-incumbency as the key and deciding factors. “A clear trend is emerging in the urban areas this time, where the BJP is leading...” Exit polls showed the BJP was on course for a historic victory in the state. In 2011, the TMC stormed to power, ending the 34-year Left Front rule. The BJP has made inroads in Bengal since the 2019 Lok Sabha. The counting of votes started on Monday at 8am across 77 counting centres amid heightened security. Repolling has been scheduled for May 21 in the Falta assembly constituency after allegations of Electronic Voting Machine tampering. The counting will be held on May 24. As many as 152 assembly seats went to the polls on April 23 in the first phase. Polling in the remaining 142 assembly seats was held on April 29. The turnout of 93.05% was the highest in the state’s history after mass disenfranchisement of all but 1,600-odd people among the 2.71 million people flagged under the controversial logical discrepancy category in the SIR. Both the BJP and the TMC have claimed that the high turnout will help them. Security was intensified across West Bengal ahead of the counting day. The number of counting centres was scaled down to 77 from 87 announced earlier, and 108 in 2021. The Election Commission of India has deployed 165 additional counting observers and 77 police observers. It introduced stringent access control measures at the counting centres, including banning mobile phones except for returning officers and observers. The counting of votes was underway in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry following the conclusion of the biggest electoral exercise since the 2024 polls.