Kumar Bahukhandi
Security personnel outside a vote counting centre during the West Bengal Assembly election results day, in Kolkata, on May 4, 2026. – Photo Credit: PTI
The Election Commission of India has assured all political parties of a triple-layer security at all counting centres with specialised patrols in vulnerable zones; only authorised personnel with QR-coded IDs are permitted entry in the counting venue
Kolkata : Counting of votes for the high-stakes assembly elections in West Bengal began at 8 am on Monday May 4 , 2026 , with the verdict set to decide whether the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC returns to power for a fourth consecutive term or the BJP scripts history by forming its first government in the state.
The counting is being held for 293 of 294 assembly segments in 77 centres across 23 districts of the state under a multi-layered security cordon, deciding the fate of 2,926 candidates.
The elections were held under the shadow of the SIR exercise, in which the names of around 91 lakh people were removed from the electoral rolls, which shrank to around 6.82 crore.
The polling was held in two phases — on April 23 for 152 seats and on April 29 for 142 seats, recording a voter turnout of 92.47 per cent — the highest since Independence, according to the Election Commission.
While repolling was held in 11 booths of Magrahat Paschim and four in Diamond Harbour assembly segment on May 2, the EC countermanded polls in the adjacent Falta constituency, citing “severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process during polling in a large number of polling stations”.
The fresh poll in that seat will take place on May 21, and counting on May 24.
The postal ballots, through which those engaged in poll duty vote, are being counted first, followed by the EVMs. Several rounds of counting will be held in every seat, with early trends expected shortly.
The elections have been keenly contested, with the ruling TMC aiming to retain power for a fourth consecutive term, while the BJP is seeking a historic breakthrough in the state. The CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress are looking to regain lost ground after their rout in the 2021 elections.
More than 2.5 lakh personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), along with state police, have been deployed, with the TMC and BJP engaging in a showdown outside several strongrooms, where EVMs were stored, in the run-up to the counting.
In state capital Kolkata, counting for 11 assembly constituencies is being conducted across five locations — Ballygunge Govt High School, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, Sakhawat Memorial Govt Girls’ High School, Netaji Indoor Stadium and St Thomas Boys’ School.
TMC contested 291 seats, while its ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa, fielded candidates in three seats in the Darjeeling Hills. The BJP fielded candidates in all 294 seats, while the Congress contested 292 seats.
The four-party Left Front contested 246 seats, and lent support to CPIM(L) Liberation on 10 assembly segments, ISF and SDPI on 29 seats, and an Independent and other Left-wing outfits on the remaining seats.
The campaign witnessed a high-decibel contest, with senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, targeting the TMC on issues such as corruption, law and order, infiltration, women’s safety and unemployment.
The TMC, led by Chief Minister Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee — the party’s national general secretary, countered with a campaign focused on alleged harassment of people during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Bengali pride.
In the 2021 elections, the TMC had won 215 seats, while the BJP bagged 77, and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and ISF one seat each.
Among the prominent TMC candidates are CM Banerjee, who is being challenged by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur, state ministers Sujit Bose in Bidhannagar, Firhad Hakim in Kolkata Port, Jyoti Priya Mallick in Habra, Bratya Basu in Dum Dum, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay in Ballygunge, Aroop Biswas in Tollygunge, Manas Bhuniya in Sabang, Moloy Ghatak in Asansol Uttar, Udayan Guha in Dinhata, Shashi Panja in Shyampukur and Chandrima Bhattacharya in Dum Dum Uttar.
The BJP’s heavyweight candidates include ex-MP Nisith Pramanik in Mathabhanga, Sankar Ghosh in Siliguri, Gouri Shankar Ghosh in Murshidabad, Subrata Thakur in Gaighata, ex-MP Dilip Ghosh in Kharagpur Sadar, Koustav Bagchi in Barrackpur, Ratna Debnath in Panihati, Sajal Ghosh in Baranagar, Rekha Patra in Hingalganj, Roopa Ganguly in Sonarpur Dakshin, Arjun Singh in Noapara, Swapan Dasgupta in Rashbehari and Rudranil Ghosh in Shibpur.
Also in the fray are CPI(M)’s Minakshi Mukherjee in Uttarpara, Dipsita Dhar in Dum Dum Uttar, Kalatan Dasgupta in Panihati, ex-MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya in Jadavpur, ISF MLA Nawsad Siddiqui in Bhangar, ex-MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar in Sreerampur.
(Source-PTI)
