Bengal Awaits Unpredictable Verdict After Record Turnout
3 May 2026 9:10 PM IST3 May 2026 9:10 PM IST
“TMC is returning to power with more seats and margin than before. Ms Banerjee is going to become the CM for the fourth time. It is her prerogative when she will take the path, on May 6 or 7”: Firhad Hakim
People sit near banners featuring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the declaration of State Assembly election results, in Kalighat, Kolkata, West Bengal, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)
Kolkata/Berhampore: West Bengal braces for an "unpredictable" mandate on Monday after recording the nation's highest-ever voters' turnout in the Assembly elections following the deletion of nearly 91 lakh names in the special intensive revision (SIR) and a fierce legal battle against it by the ruling Trinamul Congress at the Supreme Court.
The two-phase poll on April 23 and April 29 from hills to plains in the state witnessed a close contest between the TMC, which has been in power for 15 years, and its main opposition, the BJP, under an unprecedented deployment of the Central government machinery, from paramilitary forces to security and law enforcement agencies, by the Election Commission to make it free and fair.
For the first time in the history of the state, votes of 293 constituencies out of the total 294 seats will be counted at 77 centres, down from 87, for the announcement of the results. The EC on Saturday countermanded the polls in the Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas, citing "severe electoral offences". Fresh polling will be held in Falta on May 21 after the end of the election process.
Most of the 293 seats are expected to see a narrow margin of votes between the winners and losers due to the huge deletions of electors’ names in the SIR. Murshidabad, which is among the top three districts in the list of highest SIR deletions and has a vast minority votebank, may spring a surprise with new victorious faces as the Congress hopes to open its account by regaining Berhampore, where former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury contested this time.
All eyes will, however, be on which way the SIR swings the votes – to the ruling party or the opposition – amid a fear of anti-incumbency in the TMC as party supremo Mamata Banerjee faces the toughest battle of her political career in her home turf, Bhowanipore, and beyond to retain her hegemony.
The three-time chief minister, who contested against her rival and Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, discussed her last-minute plans and strategies with her counting agents, party councillors and presidents of eight wards at her residence on Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat on Sunday evening after getting assessment reports of her trailing in some of them.
The TMC, however, sounded calm and confident of its fourth term in power. Kolkata Mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who contested from the Kolkata Port constituency this time also, said, “The TMC is returning to power with more seats and margin than before. Ms Banerjee is going to become the CM for the fourth time. It is her prerogative when she will take the path, on May 6 or 7.”
In the 2021 elections, the TMC bagged 213 seats, while the BJP got 77. The TMC tally later rose to 226 through defections in the Opposition and wins in bypoll.
The BJP is also confident of victory in Bengal. State BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya hoped for his party's victory and asked party workers not to get entangled in any violence by the TMC. Meanwhile, all the BJP candidates offered puja at temples in their constituencies for good luck.
For the first time in the history of the state, votes of 293 constituencies out of the total 294 seats will be counted at 77 centres, down from 87, for the announcement of the results. The EC on Saturday countermanded the polls in the Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas, citing "severe electoral offences". Fresh polling will be held in Falta on May 21 after the end of the election process.
Most of the 293 seats are expected to see a narrow margin of votes between the winners and losers due to the huge deletions of electors’ names in the SIR. Murshidabad, which is among the top three districts in the list of highest SIR deletions and has a vast minority votebank, may spring a surprise with new victorious faces as the Congress hopes to open its account by regaining Berhampore, where former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury contested this time.
All eyes will, however, be on which way the SIR swings the votes – to the ruling party or the opposition – amid a fear of anti-incumbency in the TMC as party supremo Mamata Banerjee faces the toughest battle of her political career in her home turf, Bhowanipore, and beyond to retain her hegemony.
The three-time chief minister, who contested against her rival and Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, discussed her last-minute plans and strategies with her counting agents, party councillors and presidents of eight wards at her residence on Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat on Sunday evening after getting assessment reports of her trailing in some of them.
The TMC, however, sounded calm and confident of its fourth term in power. Kolkata Mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who contested from the Kolkata Port constituency this time also, said, “The TMC is returning to power with more seats and margin than before. Ms Banerjee is going to become the CM for the fourth time. It is her prerogative when she will take the path, on May 6 or 7.”
In the 2021 elections, the TMC bagged 213 seats, while the BJP got 77. The TMC tally later rose to 226 through defections in the Opposition and wins in bypoll.
The BJP is also confident of victory in Bengal. State BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya hoped for his party's victory and asked party workers not to get entangled in any violence by the TMC. Meanwhile, all the BJP candidates offered puja at temples in their constituencies for good luck.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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