BJP candidate from Suri constituency Jagannath Chattopadhyay interacts with people during his door-to-door election campaign ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, at Suri, in Birbhum district, on March 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party would win 177 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly polls.
The BJP leader said if people were allowed to vote, “the BJP will win nothing short of 177 seats”. This is the first time that a BJP leader in West Bengal has put up a figure on how many seats the BJP will win in the Assembly polls.
There are 294 seats in the Assembly and the magic figure for securing a majority is 148 seats. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while announcing candidates for the polls, had said her party would win at least 226 seats. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress had won 215 seats and the BJP was reduced to 77 seats.
The BJP leadership, particularly Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had raised the slogan of ‘200 paar ( More than 200)” during the 2021 polls. However, in this election, the BJP leadership was not putting any figures till Mr. Adhikari capped the party chances to 177. The TMC won 215 seats with a 48.59% vote share and the BJP 77 seats with 38% votes.
There are about 80 to 90 Assembly seats in West Bengal where the population of Muslim electorate is more than 50% and the BJP has little chances of winning these seats. Also in south Bengal’s Presidency area, which comprises Kolkata and adjoining districts, the BJP has never been able to make an impact.
Addressing a public meeting in north Bengal, Ms. Banerjee said that after the elections, BJP supporters would have to put up posters and say that they had nothing to do with the party.
Published – March 25, 2026 10:14 pm IST
