West Bengal Assembly election results: Mamata Banerjee victorious in nail-biting Nandigram race

After several rounds of counting, Mamata narrowly won the battle for Nandigram beating her former protege Suvendu Adhikari

(Due to confusion over counting and results the below story has taken a new shape, please follow latest updates on West Bengal election results here)

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) seems to be heading towards a thumping victory with over 200 seats in the West Bengal Assembly elections if the ongoing trends hold. BJP on the other hand is likely to face disappointment as till now the party is far behind its declared target of 200 seats.

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The TMC is leading in 209 seats, the BJP in 80 seats, the alliance of the Left Front, Congress and the ISF is leading in only two seats after several rounds of counting. Others are leading in one seat. Out of the 294 seats in West Bengal, polls were held in 292 seats as two candidates in two seats died due to Covid-19 and polls there were postponed.

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TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has won a closely fought battle in Nandigram against her former protegee and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari.

Her trusted lieutenant and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim has also secured a comfortable lead from the Kolkata Port constituency.

The TMC has also secured a comfortable lead in Mamata’s former constituency Bhabanipore where its candidate and Power Minister Shobhandeb Chatterjee has secured about 22,000 votes over BJP’s celebrity candidate Rudranil Ghosh.

TMC secretary-general and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee is also leading in the Behala Paschim constituency.

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It seems that despite the BJP’s success in Bengal in the last Assembly elections, the saffron party has lagged behind mainly because of three factors. First, despite all the hype and social media blitzkrieg, the BJP failed to come up with a prominent face in West Bengal who can rival the TMC supremo. The fact the BJP did not declare a Chief Ministerial candidate may also have gone against it.

Second, BJP’s use of defection tactics against the TMC seems to have backfired as very few of the TMC turncoats whom the saffron party fielded have been able to secure leads.

Third, BJP’s high pitched polarizing campaign seems to have consolidated the minority votes even more in favour of the TMC.