The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), both part of the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc but competing as rivals in the state after unsuccessful seat-sharing negotiations, are locked in a close contest for Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats. As of 9.15 am, the NDA was leading in 21 seats, while the Trinamool Congress was ahead in 18.
Key players in the fray include Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leading in Bahrampur, and BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar, ahead in Balurghat. Both are defending their seats from the previous election.
Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is retaining his Diamond Harbour seat. TMC’s Mala Roy is holding on to Kolkata Dakshin, a stronghold of Ms. Banerjee. However, the Trinamool is trailing in Kolkata Uttar, with BJP’s Tapas Roy leading.
The BJP’s Agnimitra Paul is maintaining her lead in Medinipur, and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who recently joined the BJP, is leading in Tamluk.
Bengal remains a crucial battleground in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP aiming to seize control from Ms. Banerjee’s Trinamool. A strong performance in Bengal is vital for the BJP’s ambitious target of winning 370 seats nationally, and the broader goal of surpassing 400 seats.
Exit polls have given the BJP a slight advantage over the Trinamool, predicting 23 seats for the BJP and 18 for the TMC. The Congress is expected to win just one seat, a decrease from the two it secured in 2019.
If these predictions hold true, it would mark a significant victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which has aggressively targeted Ms. Banerjee and her party since their substantial defeat in the 2021 state elections.
Following the release of exit poll data, Ms. Banerjee dismissed the projections, asserting that they do not reflect the actual ground situation and were “manufactured at home,” implying manipulation by the BJP.
“We saw how the exit polls were conducted in 2016, 2019, and 2021. None of the predictions were accurate,” she told TV9-Bangla. “These exit polls were fabricated for media consumption two months ago. They hold no value.”
The CPIM, another contender in Bengal and a member of the INDIA bloc, also rejected the exit poll results. Sujan Chakraborty, a central committee member of the CPIM, stated that the data was unreliable.
BJP state unit president Sukanta Majumdar remains confident, claiming his party will win at least 25 seats. “When I took over as state president two-and-a-half years ago, I predicted we would surpass 25 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal. Initially, many within my party were skeptical. Now, not only my party but the press and people of the state believe we will achieve this,” he asserted.