The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are engaged in a tight contest in West Bengal, with the BJP slightly ahead after the initial two hours of vote counting. Out of 293 assembly constituencies, trends for 176 seats were available by 10 a.m. The BJP was leading in 90 seats, while the Trinamool Congress followed closely with 82 seats. Congress and CPI-M candidates were ahead in two seats each.
The Congress candidates were leading in Malatipur and Mothabarii constituencies, both located in the minority-dominated Malda district. Notably, Mausam Benazir Noor, a former Congress Lok Sabha member who recently rejoined Congress, is leading from the Malatipur assembly constituency. On the other hand, CPI-M candidates were in the lead in Jalangi and Domkal constituencies, situated in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district.
Several prominent BJP leaders were leading in various constituencies, including Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram, Dilip Ghosh from Kharagpur (Sadar), Agnimitra Paul from Asansol (Dakshin), and Swapan Dasgupta. However, some current members of the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, like Dr. Sashi Panja from Shyampukur constituency, were trailing marginally as per the latest trends.
As of 10 a.m., the results for the high-profile Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting against Adhikari, were not available. The voting process is expected to have a minimum of ten rounds and a maximum of 26 rounds based on the number of voters in each constituency.
