KOLKATA: Bhowanipore turned its back on Mamata Banerjee after three terms as the West Bengal Chief Minister was defeated in her home turf by her protege-turned-foe Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari, contesting on a BJP ticket, won the knife-edge contest by 15,105 votes.
Election Results 2026
Vijay's TVK party emerged as a formidable force in Tamil Nadu. The West Bengal election results showed Mamata lagging behind Suvendu Adhikari after the second round in Bhowanipore. TVK pushed DMK and AIADMK to the margins, while the BJP may oust Mamata in Bengal and retain Assam.
Mamata struggled to accept the outcome, claiming she and her TMC were defeated "by force." She alleged the election process was manipulated and votes were "looted" by Adhikari's BJP. Furthermore, she claimed she was assaulted by BJP activists and central forces as she left the Sakhawat Memorial High School counting centre after nearly five hours.
Key Developments
Mamata stayed at the counting centre since trends showed her trailing by over 10,994 votes after the 18th round of counting. The Election Commission pegged the final tally at 73,917 votes for Adhikari and 58,812 for Mamata.
Bhowanipore, the centre stage of West Bengal's political battlefield, was a cauldron on Monday. The atmosphere was surcharged with allegations, counter-allegations, and street showdowns as tallies swung wildly through the day.
Early trends favoured Adhikari, who surged ahead in the opening rounds. However, after the third round, Mamata bounced back. She established dominance by the seventh round, leading by more than 19,000 votes at one point, triggering murmurs that the contest might tilt decisively in her favour.
That perception proved short-lived. Adhikari, claiming Mamata's surge was driven by votes from a minority-dominated pocket, mounted a rapid comeback. By the 12th round, the gap shrunk to just over 7,000 votes and later tightened further to 5,300 votes, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish echoing the intensity of their 2021 face-off, where Mamata lost to Adhikari in Nandigram. She won Bhowanipore in a bypoll later that year.
Tensions at the Counting Centre
Tensions peaked when TMC alleged that its Bhowanipore counting agents were attacked by BJP and pushed out. The Chief Minister, who earlier appealed to her workers to "fight like a tiger cub" and not leave the counting tables till sunset, rushed to the venue.
As her convoy reached the centre around 3:30 pm, BJP supporters erupted in chants of "thief, thief" and "go back," turning the stretch into a cauldron of hostility. Adhikari arrived around the same time. TMC general secretary and Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee also reached the site amid allegations that some BJP supporters spat in his direction and hurled abuses before he was forced to move out.
Mamata stayed at the centre till 8 pm before being escorted out by central forces. As she came out, she repeated allegations about being "assaulted" and claimed BJP "looted over 100 seats." Putting up a brave face, she vowed that TMC would come back to office.
TMC offices fell silent. "We have nothing to say," said a worker, slowly unpinning the party symbol from his shirt.
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