The counting of votes in the Lok Sabha polls is progressing, and the Election Commission has announced that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is leading on 30 seats in West Bengal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on 10 seats. The BJP’s campaign strategy, which focused on dislodging Mamata Banerjee from West Bengal and targeting the TMC government over issues like Sandeshkhali, has failed to yield the desired results.
West Bengal contributes 42 Lok Sabha seats to the 543-member Parliament. The BJP’s main objective was to dislodge Mamata Banerjee and her government, but the trends till 2 pm showed that the party is trailing in several constituencies, including Barrackpur, Hooghly, and Medinipur. The TMC, on the other hand, is demonstrating a strong performance across multiple constituencies, including Baharampur, Dum Dum, Jadavpur, Asansol, Birbhum, Krishnanagar, and Diamond Harbour.
In Baharampur, TMC’s Yusuf Pathan has taken a significant lead, while in Dum Dum and Jadavpur, TMC candidates Sougata Ray and Sayani Ghosh respectively are ahead. Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Prasad Sinha is leading in Asansol for TMC. In Birbhum and Krishnanagar, TMC candidates Satabdi Roy and Mahua Moitra are leading respectively. The most notable lead is seen in Diamond Harbour, where Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is leading with a staggering margin.
The BJP, during its election campaign, attacked the TMC government for corruption and indulging in appeasement politics. Referring to the Calcutta HC decision scrapping OBC certificates, PM Modi accused Trinamool Congress of appeasing the “Muslim vote bank” as he also targeted Congress saying the “politics of appeasement is crossing every limit” and “Khan Market gang paap ki bhagidar hai.”
Strict security measures have been implemented to ensure the smooth counting of votes for more than 8,000 candidates in this general election. Vote counting commenced at 8 pm today.
Most of the exit polls had predicted a different outcome, with the BJP expected to win more seats than the TMC in West Bengal. The exit poll outcome was declared after the conclusion of polling for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
According to the News18 exit poll, the BJP-led NDA is expected to win 21-24 seats in West Bengal. The TMC is set to win 18-21 seats. India TV poll said that the BJP-led NDA may get between 22-26 seats, TMC 14-18 seats, and Congress to get 1-2 seats. The ABP News-CVoter exit poll predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in West Bengal. The BJP is predicted to win 23-27 seats while the Trinamool Congress is expected to get 13-17 seats. The Congress to get 1-3 seats.
According to News 24-Today’s Chanakya Analysis, the BJP is poised to win 24 seats, TMC to get 17 seats and Congress to get 1 seat. According to the India Today-Axis My India, BJP will get 26-31 seats, TMC to get 11-14 seats and INDIA bloc to get 0-2 seats.
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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC had won 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, and the BJP won 18. Congress won only 2 seats.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that a “very robust system” has been put in place. “There are around 10.5 lakh booths. Each booth will have 14 tables. There are observers and micro-observers. Nearly, 70-80 lakh people are involved in the process,” he said.
Results of the Assembly elections in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh were held simultaneously with voting for the 543-member Lok Sabha. Results of 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and results of bypolls in 25 Assembly constituencies will also be declared today.
The Lok Sabha elections were conducted in seven phases—on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
