The early trends from West Bengal were not ideal for the Trinamool Congress, as the BJP is putting up a brave fight across the state. The BJP was ahead in about 150 seats, while the TMC was only leading in about 120 seats.
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The counting of votes for the state's 293 Assembly constituencies began at 8 am, with postal ballots taken up first in keeping with Election Commission norms, followed by EVM counting.
Here are five of the latest updates from West Bengal that you need to know this hour:
- As per the early trends, the BJP is ahead in four out of the six seats in South Dinajpur. The Trinamool Congress is leading in Kumarganj and Harirampur alone. The BJP is ahead in the Tapan, Balurghat, Gangarampur, and Kushmandi constituencies.
- In the West Burdwan district, the BJP is leading in the Asansol North, Asansol South, Kulti, Raniganj, Jamuria, and Barabani seats.
- Humayun Kabir is leading by 5,495 votes in Rejinagar. Meanwhile, the BJP is leading in the Murshidabad and Nabagram Assembly constituencies after the first round.
The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), an ally of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the Darjeeling hills, was leading in Kalimpong. As per EC data, BJP candidate Lakshmi Kanta Sau was leading in Jhargram with 5,156 votes, ahead of TMC's Mongal Saren, who secured 4,180 votes, trailing by 976 votes.
- CPI(M) candidate Mustifizur Rahman is leading from the Domkal seat. After the first round, BJP candidate Ajay Roy is leading by 1,647 votes in Dinhata, while Nishith Pramanik is leading by a landslide from Mathabhanga.