Mamata’s Trinamool races away in Bengal with leads in 200+ seats, BJP leads in less than 100

According to Election Commission figures, TMC has got at least 48.4% vote share, an increase from 43% in 2019 Lok Sabha election. BJP’s vote share fell to 37.4% from 40%.

Trinamool Congress supporters hold placards during an election rally in Kolkata | ANI

Kolkata: After around five rounds of counting, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal has taken lead over its prime challenger the BJP in at least 203 seats out of the 292 seats contested, while the BJP is leading in 90.

This has comes as a huge disappointment to the BJP, which has been focusing all its energy on the state, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah holding high-octane campaigns in the past few months.

This also signals that Banerjee has been able to hold fort, decimating Modi-Shah’s ‘all guns blazing’ campaign.

Despite being wheelchair-bound since 14 March after sustaining injuries during a rally in Nandigram, the chief minister held at least three to four rallies everyday, covering almost 150 constituencies on her own until the campaign ended on 26 April. 

According to the Election Commission figures, Banerjee has got at least 48.4 per cent vote share — an increase from the 43 per cent vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. 

The 5 per cent rise for Banerjee indicates that she had drawn the votes of Congress and CPM in her favour, which went to the BJP in 2019.

The BJP’s vote share has fallen from 40 per cent to 37.4 per cent.

During the election campaign, Banerjee and her party repeatedly blamed the Election Commission of India for allegedly conducting an unfair election and called it partisan. She also criticised the actions by the central forces and threatened to take the ECI to court after elections. 

Banerjee, however, is trailing BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram after six rounds of counting.

(Edited by Debalina Dey)