Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has surged ahead as of 11:10 am on Tuesday (Indian local time), gaining a lead in 29 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in nine seats. The Congress is leading in two seats, and the CPM is leading in a single seat.
The counting of votes in all 42 Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal is now underway. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC won 22 seats, while the BJP sprung a major surprise, winning 18 seats. The Congress won the remaining two seats. The BJP dramatically increased their seats from only two in 2014 to 18 in 2019, reports India TV News.
Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee has maintained a comfortable lead in Diamond Harbour, while BJP leaders Nisith Pramanik and Dilip Ghosh are trailing in Cooch Behar and Bardhaman-Durgapur seats respectively. The BJP has maintained leads in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Krishnanagar and Asansol. TMC's disqualified MP Mahua Moitra is ahead of BJP's Amrita Roy in Krishnanagar. Meanwhile, Congress is leading in Maldaha Dakshin and Maldaha Dakshin. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is ahead in Baharampur against TMC's surprise pick Yusuf Pathan.
Among BJP candidates, Soumendu Adhikari, the brother of West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, is leading in Kanthi, while Agnimitra Paul is leading in Medinipur. Dr Jayanta Kumar Roy is leading in Medinipur and Jagannath Sarkar is leading in Ranaghat.
With a target of securing 400 seats nationwide, the BJP launched an assertive campaign in Bengal, highlighting issues such as corruption and the recent incident in Sandeshkhali. In the 2019 elections, the BJP displayed an impressive performance in West Bengal, winning 18 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now proclaimed that Bengal will emerge as the top-performing state for his party in this election cycle.
Following a lacklustre performance in the state elections, securing only 77 out of 294 seats, the BJP is pinning its hopes on unconventional candidates like former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Sandeshkhali incident survivor Rekha Patra to bolster its support base.