Bhabanipur (West Bengal)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday regained a narrow lead over the BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in a very close contested Assembly election in Bhabanipur constituency as per trends of the Election Commission after third round of counting.

After taking an early lead, Mamata Banerjee who had fallen behind Adhikari with a margin of nearly 2000 votes, however, she quickly regained her lead with a margin of 800 seats.

As the lead remains fragile, Suvendu Adhikari expressed confident that he will emerge victorious in this high-octane battle.

"In Bhabanipur, the first round was of the Muslim area, in which I conceded a deficit of approx 2000 votes. After the second round, which was a Hindu area, I was leading with 2200 votes. I want to thank every Hindu, Sanatani, those have cast their votes in favour of me... Mamata Banerjee will again be defeated in Bhabanipur," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance took an early lead on 140 seats in West Bengal, while Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was leading on 73 seats, and its ally BGPM is leading on one seat, as per trends, according to the Election Commission of India.

News channels have projected a narrow lead for the BJP in the 294-member assembly, projecting leads of 178 seats for the BJP, just ten short of the halfway mark of 148. TMC is leading on 113 seats.

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West Bengal recorded the highest-ever voter turnout since independence with an impressive 91.66% polling in Phase-II 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.