Mamata Banerjee to stake claim to form govt in West Bengal on May 3

As per the latest trends, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's party TMC has taken a massive lead and the ruling party is way ahead of the BJP in Bengal. The Trinamool Congress has crossed the 200-mark in the 294-seat assembly and looks set to a third straight term in West Bengal. The ruling TMC is currently leading in 205 seats, while the BJP is leading in 85 seats at 2 PM.

File Photo (ANII)

Kolkata: Belying all expectations, the TMC was headed on Sunday (May 2) for a landslide victory in assembly elections, overcoming the might of the BJP after a bitter campaign that had turned into a virtual duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By evening the trends were clear. Banerjee's Trinamool Congress had won or was leading in 216 (93 wins and 123 leads) out of 292 constituencies which went to the polls with some 48 per cent of the votes counted so far. Polling was countermanded in two constituencies after candidates fell victim to a raging Covid-19 pandemic.

In Assam, the saffron party is all set to retain power in Assam. The party's state chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the BJP-led alliance is committed to develop all the communities of the state with blessings of the people. Meanwhile, Congress's Assam president Ripun Bora resigned after the party's defeat in the state elections.

The much-awaited results are being updated every minute on the Election Commission of India's website - https://results.eci.gov.in. 

Modi 'magic' Vs Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal 

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is seeking to seize power for the third consecutive term in the state, where it was locked in a high-octane contest with the BJP.

The power-packed campaigns by the main contenders - the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), involved rallies with large participations and mega roadshows. The third front i.e. the coalition of the Congress, Left Front and Indian Secular Force seemed to be on the back foot when it came to campaigning.

The ambitious BJP did intense campaigning with the goal to topple the incumbent TMC government in the state. To continue its stride in Bengal especially after an overwhelming result in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the state, the party brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and many others for campaigning. ‘Tolabaazi’’ (extortion), `cut money`, syndicate raj and appeasement politics were a few topics over which the BJP targeted the ruling TMC.

Mamata chose Nandigram over her home turf Bhabanipur seat this time to test her fate in the 2021 elections. Now not just Bengal, but the country`s eyes were on Nandigram that witnessed the most high-profile contest on April 1 with the chief minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP in December last year. However, in a setback to the Bengal CM, she lost the seat by a margin of over 1700 votes to Adhikari, her former protege. 

Several exit poll surveys gave an edge to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). In West Bengal, all exit polls predicted that the BJP would make major inroads and a few also said that the party would emerge victoriously. 

Assam

In Assam, the ruling BJP faced a challenge from 'Mahajoth' or 'Grand Alliance' comprising the Congress, AIUDF, Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF), CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM). The BJP has an alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP).

The saffron party had scripted history by winning the traditionally Congress-dominated state in 2016, after remaining on the fringes. In the northeastern state of Assam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared ahead in the exit polls and after the Sunday votes counting, the lotus is all set to bloom for the second consecutive time in the state. All major pollsters have predicted a majority for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 126-member Assembly. 

As per the Zee News Maha Exit Poll, the BJP+ was leading on 79 seats, while the Congress-AIUDF alliance was ahead only in 46 of the 126-seat legislative Assembly. Given these trends, it is clear that the BJP headed by chief minister Sarbanand Sonowal faced neither anti-incumbency nor rejection over the Citizenship Amendment Act (Act) from the electorate.

This is all for the day. Thank you for staying with Zee News for latest updates from across the country. Do come back on Monday (May 3) for more updates. 

02 May 2021

21:38 IST

Breaking: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who won from Nandigram against Mamata Banerjee, was on Sunday evening attacked in Haldia by unidentified assailants. Adhikari was attacked while he was coming out from a counting centre.  

21:38 IST

Trinamool Congress moves Election Commission, claims EVM tampering in Nandigram

Trinamool Congress writes to Chief Electoral office, West Bengal for, 'immediate re-counting of votes in Nandigram AC 210 and postal ballots'.