Kolkata, June 3 Counting of votes for the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal will begin on Tuesday morning in the backdrop of Exit Poll projections of the BJP pulling off its best-ever electoral performance in the state.
The combined findings of five Exit Polls by reputed agencies, including Bengal’s most followed ABP-Cvoter, have predicted a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 27 seats in favour of the BJP. The projections also gave a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 21 seats to the Trinamool Congress.
In 2019, the BJP improved its tally to 18 seats from the two it won in 2014, while the Trinamool ended with 22 seats, down from the 34 it won in the previous elections. The remaining two seats were won by the Congress, which managed four seats in 2014.
The latest Exit Polls also predicted 0-3 seats for the Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal.
As per the ABP-Cvoter Exit Poll, the BJP is also expected to gain in vote share in Bengal -- from 40.7 per cent in 2019 to 42.5 per cent this time. On the other hand, the Trinamool's vote share is expected to decline to 41.5 per cent from the 43.3 per cent it managed in 2019.
Political observers feel that the district which can be a significant contributor to BJP’s projected tally is East Midnapore, a virtual bastion of the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.
According to them, the BJP candidates will in all probability win both the seats in the district -- Tamluk and Kanthi.
In 2019, Trinamool had won both these seats, but the Adhikari family was in the ruling party camp then.
This time, the BJP fielded former judge of the Calcutta High Court, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, from Tamluk, while Suvendu Adhikari’s younger brother Soumendu Adhikari is the party nominee from Kanthi.
Similarly, Hooghly can be another district that might propel BJP's numbers this time, feel political observers.
In 2019, the BJP managed victory in the Hooghly Lok Sabha seat, while the remaining two constituencies in the district, Serampore and Arambagh, went in favour of the Trinamool.
This time, as per projections, the BJP is expected to snatch the Arambagh constituency from Trinamool, besides retaining Hooghly.
There are also indications that the BJP candidate from the Kolkata Uttar constituency, Tapas Roy, might emerge victorious by defeating three-time sitting Trinamool MP Sudip Bandopadhyay.
If the results go as per the Exit Poll projections, the BJP will be making clear gains at Trinamool's cost which can be attributed to two factors.
First, consolidation of Hindu votes in favour of the BJP against a division in minority votes between the Trinamool, Congress-Left Front alliance, and the AISF.
Second, a substantial chunk of floating voters who voted for Trinamool in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly elections having distanced themselves from the ruling party this time, mainly because of the multiple cases of corruption against its leaders.
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