The All India Trinamool Congress is set for its second-best performance ever in the Lok Sabha elections, as it won 29 seats out of the 42 constituencies in West Bengal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged just 11 and is ahead in one during the counting of the results on Tuesday.
The Indian National Congress won Maldaha Dakshin, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) failed to open its account, according to the EC data updated till 11.45 p.m.
The BJP, which had performed spectacularly by winning 18 seats last time, saw several sitting MPs—including Union ministers—losing to their TMC rivals. The performance has defied the projections of many exit polls, some of which showed the saffron party might win more seats than the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The TMC's Mahua Moitra won against BJP candidate Amrita Roy in Krishnanagar, while Yusuf Pathan defeated Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Baharampur, in a huge win for the chief minister against her bête noire by breaching the state Congress president's fortress for the first time.
The state's ruling party also won the Congress stronghold of Murshidabad. In Basirhat, where one of the assembly segments is Sandeshkhali, the TMC's SK Nurul Islam defeated BJP's Rekha Patra by a huge margin of approximately 3.34 lakh votes.
In Diamond Harbour, TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee won by a massive margin of over 7.1 lakh votes. During campaigning, Mamata Banerjee's nephew had exuded confidence about winning the constituency by over 4 lakh votes.
The party also retained the crucial and prestigious seat of Kolkata Uttar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee held roadshows on the same stretch on back-to-back days. Its candidates also won against Union ministers Nisith Pramanik and Subhas Sarkar in Coochbehar and Bankura, respectively.
The BJP lost in Asansol to the TMC's Shatrughan Sinha, as well as in Hooghly, where TMC's actor-turned-politician Rachna Banerjee defeated Locket Chatterjee. In Bardhaman-Durgapur, former cricketer and TMC candidate Kirti Azad defeated former Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh.
In Kanthi, Soumendu Adhikari, who is the brother of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, won against the TMC's Uttam Barik. Its candidate and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay won from Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district—the bastion of Suvendu Adhikari.
In Barrackpore, the TMC's Partha Bhowmick defeated Arjun Singh of the BJP. Singh had left the TMC before winning the constituency as a BJP candidate last time. Later, he joined the TMC, but returned again to the saffron party to fight the polls after he was denied a ticket.
In 2019, the TMC had won 22 seats, the BJP 18, and the Congress two out of the 42 seats.
To those who dared to doubt the strength and resilience of Bengal, who sought to suppress us through a section of judiciary in HC, media, central investigative agencies and underestimated the power of the common man, Tonight shall serve as the resounding response.
June 4, 2024
জয় বাংলা 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/dq3pa2YBasOdisha
In Odisha, the BJP won 18 seats and is leading in two out of the total 21 seats. The Biju Janata Dal drew a blank, while the Congress won Koraput.
The BJP's Sambit Patra is leading from Puri, while Dharmendra Pradhan won from Sambalpur. BJP Vice President Baijayant Panda won from Kendrapara and Pratap Chandra Sarangi won in Balasore.
In 2019, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP eight and the Congress one.
Bihar
The National Democratic Alliance won 29 out of the 40 seats in Bihar, but compared with 2019, this is a loss of 10-odd seats. Meanwhile, the opposition alliance, INDIA, bagged nine seats, which is a gain of eight seats.
The Janata Dal (United) and the BJP won 12 seats each. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) bagged five seats, while the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) clinched one seat.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal won four seats, with Misa Bharti emerging victorious against the BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav in Patliputra. The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) triumphed in three and two seats each, respectively.
In Purnia, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav won as an Independent candidate.
In 2019, the NDA had swept the state, with the BJP winning 17, the JDU bagging 16, and the LJP winning six seats. The Congress had won one seat.
Northeast
In strife-torn Manipur, the Congress won both the seats. In 2019, the BJP and the Naga People's Front had won a seat each. The Congress also won the sole seat in Nagaland.
In Assam, the BJP won nine seats and the Congress three. The United People's Party, Liberal won a seat, while the Asom Gana Parishad was leading in one, according to the EC data updated till 11.45 p.m.
In Meghalaya, the Congress' Saleng Sangma won from the Tura seat, while the Voice of the People Party bagged the remaining seat. In Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, the BJP won all the two seats each.
The Zoram People's Movement won in Mizoram, while the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha emerged as winner in Sikkim.
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