Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party gesture during a campaign rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the West Bengal state Legislative Assembly elections, in Kolkata, India, Sunday, April 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally breached West Bengal after years of threatening to defeat the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). As of 8 p.m. on Monday (May 4, 2026), the ruling party at the Centre had won 102 of the 294 Assembly seats in the State and was leading in another 104, a tally of 206, more than two-thirds of the Assembly, relegating Mamata Banerjee’s AITC to a distant second with 44 wins and leads in 37 more, a combined 81.
The BJP has done this by improving its vote share by nearly seven percentage points compared to 2021, garnering 44.8%, close to three points more than the TMC’s 41.9% (in coalition with the BGPM from the Darjeeling area). The Left Front-led alliance has registered a presence with 3 seats and a 6.4% vote share, its first non-zero seat tally in the State since 2016, if the leads hold. The Congress has drawn a blank so far.
Published – May 04, 2026 03:11 pm IST
