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The Trinamool Congress has scored a decisive victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 213 of the 292 seats, while the BJP failed to reach the three-digit mark, even though it made massive gains from the 2016 elections.
While the BJP won 77 seats, the Left-Congress-ISF alliance won one, and an Independent grabbed another seat.
After much confusion about the results, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari emerged as winner from the high-profile Nandigram seat over Mamata Banerjee. The incumbent CM said she suspected 'malpractice in the counting process and would take the Election Commission to court, if necessary.”
The counting of votes on Sunday came amid a massive surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths across the country, with severe shortages of hospital beds, medical oxygen, and medicines being reported.
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The CVoter survey had predicted 158 seats for the TMC and 115 seats for the BJP, out of 292 seats in the West Bengal Assembly. The Left, Congress, and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) alliance was given 19 seats.
The Republic-CNX poll projected a tight contest between the BJP and the TMC, with a slight edge for the former. The poll put TMC between 128 and 138 seats, and the BJP between 138 and 148.
The counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly elections, along with those for other states, comes amid a massive surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths across the country, with severe shortages of hospital beds, medical oxygen and medicines being reported.
A day before the counting, West Bengal, on Saturday, reported 17,512 new coronavirus cases and the highest daily count of 103 deaths.
Here are some of the important constituencies to watch out for as counting begins shortly for the West Bengal Assembly elections:
Among other important constituencies in the state are Chunchura, from where BJP's Locket Chatterjee is contesting, and Chanditala, from where CPI(M)'s Md Salim is fighting.
Counting for the eight-phase West Bengal Assembly elections began at 8 am on Sunday, with 292 seats in the fray.
Early trends for West Bengal show the TMC leading in six seats and the BJP in three, while the Left-Congress-ISF alliance is ahead in none.
Early trends for the West Bengal Assembly elections show a tight contest between the TMC and BJP. Here are the latest trends as of 8:25 am:
Here are the latest trends as of 8:35 am:
Here are the latest trends as of 8:50 am:
Swapan Dasgupta, the BJP candidate from the Tarakeswar constituency, is trailing, as per the early trends shared by CNN-News18.
Here are the latest trends as of 9:30 am:
BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari is leading from the Nandigram constituency over TMC supremo and current CM Mamata Banerjee, as per the early trends shared by CNN-News18.
The Trinamool Congress has expanded its lead over the BJP in the West Bengal elections. Trends show the Mamata Banerjee-led party leading in 137 seats, while the BJP is ahead in 86. The Left-Congress-ISF alliance is leading in zero seats.
BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari is leading in the high-profile Nandigram constituency by a margin of 1,497 votes, the Election Commission data showed.
The Trinamool Congress has crossed the halfway mark in the West Bengal Assembly elections, with leads in 160 seats over the BJP's 90, early trends showed. The Left-Congress-ISF alliance is ahead in just one seat.
Union Minister Babul Supriyo is trailing behind TMC’s Aroop Biswas in the Tollyganj constituency by a margin of 4,512 votes, the EC data showed.
Speaking about the early trends showing the BJP behind the TMC in West Bengal, saffron party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told ANI, "(It is) too early to say anything because there are so many rounds. The situation will be clear only by evening. We had started from three (seats) and were challenged that we won't get even 100. We have crossed that mark. We will cross the magic number too."
TMC leader Becharam Manna is leading in the Singur constituency over BJP's Rabindranath Bhattacharya by a margin of 5,734 votes.
Swapan Dasgupta, the BJP candidate for Tarakeswar, is trailing by a margin of 5,367 votes against TMC's Ramendu Sinharay, the Election Commission data showed.
TMC's Firhad Hakim is leading in the Kolkata Port seat over BJP's Awadh Kishore Gupta by a big margin of 33,071 votes.
Meanwhile, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay of TMC is ahead of BJP's Rudranil Ghosh by 9,997 votes.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's lead in the high-profile Nandigram constituency has reduced to 3,710 votes from over 8,000.
He has garnered 27,640 votes till now, while Mamata Banerjee has 23,930, the EC data showed.
With the TMC leading in over 200 seats, visuals of celebrations by party supporters have surfaced amid the dire COVID situation across the country, including in West Bengal.
BJP's Mukul Roy is leading in the Krishnanagar Uttar constituency over TMC's Koushani Mukherjee by a margin of 8,235 votes.
The Election Commission on Sunday said it is taking serious note of reports coming in of congregations of people to celebrate the anticipated victory in the elections.
"EC has directed chief secretaries of all five states to file an FIR in each such case, suspend concerned SHO and report the action taken immediately of each such incidence [sic]," the poll body was quoted as saying.
TMC leader Firhad Hakim, who is contesting from the Kolkata Port constituency and leading by a big margin, told news agency ANI, "The BJP tried their best to crack (us) but they didn't succeed. The Left has now vanished from West Bengal due to their wrong policy of taking a communal force against a communal force.."
"You've to be secular in the fight against a communal force. That was done by TMC. We're committed to secularism, committed to development. We're committed to bringing the people together. We can't fight a communal battle against a communal force," he added.
Various Opposition leaders, including NCP's Sharad Pawar, AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, congratulated Mamata Banerjee, as her party continued to hold on to strong leads in the West Bengal elections.
BJP's Suvendu Adhikari is ahead of Mamata Banerjee by 4,392 votes in the Nandigram constituency after the 12th round of counting, according to reports. While the former has garnered 79,083 votes, the TMC supremo has 74,691.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her win in West Bengal.
After a close fight, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee defeated her ex-aide and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in the high-profile Nandigram constituency by a margin of 1,200 votes, according to reports.
While trends showed a massive victory for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was the primary opposition, party chief Mamata Banerjee, in her first address to the TMC members, urged everyone to avoid victory rallies and reiterated the need for following COVID protocols.
“This is Bengal’s victory. I would like to thank everyone. I request all to not take out victory processions. I urge everyone to go back to their homes now. I will address the media after 6 pm,” she said.
After initial reports of TMC supremo’s win in closely-fought Nandigram against ex-aide and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, conflicting reports emerged of the latter emerging victorious in the high-profile constituency. The Election Commission is yet to declare the final results. Reacting to the reports, Banerjee said, “I accept people's verdict in Nandigram. I will not have to go there regularly now, I am saved that way. But I will move Court if necessary because I suspect certain malpractices have taken place.”
She said, “I accept the verdict for Nandigram. For big struggle, you have to sacrifice something.”
However, the Trinamool Congress tweeted from its official handle, saying “the counting process is still on.”
As trends on Sunday, 2 May, showed a massive victory for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was the primary opposition in the eight-phase election, PM Narendra Modi tweeted congratulating Mamata Banerjee and said Centre will extend all help to fight COVID-19.
After a round of recounting, BJP candidate and Mamata Banerjee’s ex-aide tweeted thanking the people of Nandigram for their ‘love, trust, blessings and support’, with an image of the final result declared by the Election Commission in the closely fought constituency.
The Trinamool Congress has written to the chief electoral officer, West Bengal, for, "immediate re-counting of votes in Nandigram AC 210 and postal ballots." It has cited that “preposterous and illegal incidents have taken place while counting of votes was taking place in Nandigram.”
Of the 34 Trinamool leaders who had joined the BJP, 13 were given tickets and the majority of them lost, including heavyweights like Rajib Banerjee, Sabyasachi Dutta and Rabindranath Bhattacharjee.
Tollygunge was considered by many as one of the toughest seats for the Trinamool, where the BJP fielded singer-turned-politician MP Babul Supriyo against seasoned campaigner Arup Biswas.
After final round of counting, Supriyo was placed in the third position after Biswas and CPIM candidate Debdut Ghosh.
Veteran journalist and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Swapan Dasgupta lost against Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Ramendu Sinharay in the Tarakeshwar assembly constituency.