Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 4 : A sea of saffron took over the streets of Bhabanipur on Monday as BJP workers broke into early celebrations, distributing 'laddoos' and chanting slogans after the party surged past the magic figure in the West Bengal polls.
With the latest trends indicating a defeat for the ruling TMC, the atmosphere outside the counting station turned electric, signalling a massive political shift in the state after 15 years.
In Bhabanipur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was leading over BJP's Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of 8482 votes after four of 20 rounds of counting, according to Election Commission of India (ECI) trends.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 173 seats, while the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was ahead in 85 constituencies. Smaller parties, including BGPM, AJUP, and CPI(M), were leading in one seat each.
The counting process is still underway, with final results yet to be officially declared by the Election Commission.
BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, contesting from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, said, "The BJP will form the government with more than 180 seats."
Taking a jibe at TMC over their performance, he said, "Rone dijiye. Khatam poora khatam."
"All Hindus are united in favour of Narendra Modi... After four rounds of counting, the BJP is forming its government. Hindu EVMs mean BJP, Muslim EVMs mean TMC, except Malda, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur, where people have voted for Congress," he added.
West Bengal recorded the highest-ever voter turnout since independence with an impressive 91.66% polling in Phase-ll of the Assembly elections. In the phase-I the poll-participation was 93.19%, taking the combined poll percentage to 92.47%.
In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee secured a decisive mandate, winning 213 out of 294 seats with a vote share of around 48 per cent, while the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the principal opposition with 77 seats and roughly 38 per cent votes, marking a sharp rise from its previous tally. The Left-Congress alliance failed to win any seats.
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