West Bengal Election: BJP Leads TMC in Early Counting

Kolkata. As the counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly elections is underway, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a lead over the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the initial trends. The BJP appears to have a strong hold in the Jhargram seat, which gained attention during the election campaign when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ate Jhalmuri. In the latest update, BJP candidate Laxmi Kant Sa is leading in Jhargram with 29,882 votes. BJP candidate Sa is ahead of his nearest rival, Trinamool Congress's Mangal Soren, by approximately 8,000 votes. Political analysts estimate that Prime Minister Modi's election rally in this area and his local proximity have helped create public opinion in favor of the BJP. However, this is only an initial result, and it will take time for the final result to come as many stages of counting are still pending. There is an equal possibility of this lead changing as the counting progresses. Voting for a total of 294 seats in West Bengal was completed on April 23 and 29. However, due to some technical and security reasons, re-polling will be held on May 21 in the Phalta constituency. Currently, the attention of the entire state is focused on the counting, where a tough competition is seen between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. If the initial trend turns into the final result, the BJP's victory in Jhargram seems assured.