The Election Commission of India prohibited Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress General Secretary, from entering the counting centre at Hastings in South Kolkata. Despite arriving with his security team, he was not allowed in as he was not a candidate in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections. At the same time, Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari, contesting candidates at Shakhawat Memorial Government Girls School, were asked to keep their mobile phones outside or have them seized.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 186 out of 293 Assembly constituencies where counting is ongoing, having already secured 11 seats. Trinamool Congress is ahead in 88 constituencies, while Congress and the Left Front-All India Secular Front (AISF) alliance are leading in a few seats. Notably, several key members of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet are trailing in the elections, with Mamata Banerjee leading in Bhabanipur and Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.
