Suvendu Adhikari Leads Mamata Banerjee From Bhabanipur In Early Trends

Kolkata:

The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari is leading Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the race for the Bhabanipur constituency as counting progresses for the 2026 Bengal Assembly election.

Adhikari, a former close aide of the Trinamool Congress leader, dealt Banerjee a shock in the last election, beating her by fewer than 2,000 votes to claim the iconic Nandigram seat. That forced the Trinamool boss to seek re-election from Bhabanipur to retain her Assembly seat.

In the build-up to this election, Adhikari went after Banerjee again, this time announcing his candidature from the family bastion of Nandigram and Bhabanipur too. He is currently leading from Nandigram also.

Located within the wider Kolkata district, the Bhabanipur seat has been a Trinamool stronghold since 2011, when it was won by Subrata Bakshi. Before that it was the Kalighat seat for four elections and the Congress won three of those four polls. Mamata Banerjee replaced Bakshi as the MLA later that year in a by-poll; curiously that too was facilitated to allow her to become an Assembly member and retain her chief ministership.

Meanwhile, in the overall picture, at 9 am the BJP had edged out ahead of the Trinamool - this after an early period of close running - and was ahead in 72 seats to the Trinamool's 64. The Congress, routed in 2021, was ahead in two seats.

Bengal voted in a two-phase poll - on April 23 and 29 - after a shrill campaign that saw the Trinamool and the BJP trade fire at every turn, and exchange serious allegations of poll violence and misconduct, each of which the other side denied.

In the 2021 Bengal election the Trinamool delivered a statement win over the BJP, winning 215 of the state's 294 seats to make Mamata Banerjee the chief minister for a third straight time.