BJP surges ahead in early Bengal trends as Mamata trails in Bhabanipur

The Bharatiya Janata Party surged ahead in very early counting trends for the West Bengal assembly elections on Monday, opening an initial lead over the ruling Trinamool Congress as vote counting gathered pace across the state.

Counting began at 8 am, with first-round trends indicating a tightly contested battle between the BJP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.

By around 8:40 am, the BJP was leading in 14 seats, while the TMC was ahead in nine constituencies, according to early data from analytics portal PValue.

The numbers remain preliminary and are expected to shift significantly as more rounds of counting are completed.

In an early jolt for the TMC, Mamata Banerjee was trailing in her Bhabanipur seat against BJP challenger and former close aide Suvendu Adhikari.

Adhikari, contesting from two constituencies, was also leading in Nandigram, the politically symbolic seat where he defeated Banerjee in the 2021 assembly polls.

Key early leads at 8:45 am

BJP ahead in:
Alipurduars, Arambag, Asansol Dakshin, Balarampur, Bhabanipur, Bhatpara, Dabgram-Fulbari, Falakata, Hingalganj, Manbazar, Mathabhanga, Nandigram, Pandabeswar, Purulia, Siliguri, Sonarpur Dakshin and Tufanganj.

TMC ahead in:
Asansol Uttar, Ballygunge, Beleghata, Chowrangee, Dinhata, Entally, Jangipur, Kamarhati, Mangalkot, Maniktala, Mekliganj, Sitalkuchi and Sreerampur.

Others:
The All India Secular Front was leading in Bhangar, while the Congress was ahead in Mothabari.

The election was conducted in two phases — April 23 and April 29 — across 294 assembly seats, though counting is being held for 293 seats after the Election Commission ordered repolling in Falta.

While PValue’s early figures gave the BJP an edge, trends reported by other media outlets suggested a much closer race, pointing to what could become a fiercely contested count through the day.