In a sharp turn of events and a fresh saffron wave sweeping over the political landscape of WB, Mamata Banerjee has conceded defeat in Bhabanipur.
The Bhabanipur constituency has been the epicentre of neck-to-neck political contest between TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the West Bengal state assembly elections 2026.
For years together, the TMC had an iron grip around the constituency. Starting from 2011, when it was won by Subrata Bakshi. Before that, the constituency was known as the Kalighat seat, where Congress won three of four elections held there.
In the final tally of votes, Banerjee lost the citadel after bagging 58,349 votes, as compared to Adhikari who grabbed a shock victory with 73,463 votes. The defeat is a tremendous blow to the political stalwart, who has lost the elections to BJP in her home turf.
The battle between the two leaders remained exciting to watch as Banerjee clawed her way back into the lead. Later the lead fizzled away as counting progressed on Monday.
By the end of the seventh round, she had a lead of more than 17,000 votes in her kitty. But that edge became thinner and thinner over the subsequent rounds, falling to under 4,000 by the 14th and eventually disappearing entirely.
In the last elections, Adhikari had retained his home turf and defeated Mamata in Nandigram by a margin of 1,956 votes. This year as well, the BJP party leader in Bengal has handed defeat to TMC's Pabitra Kar by over 9,000 votes.
On the whole, the BJP has secured a decisive victory in the state after crossing the majority mark and leading in over 200 seats. Mamata has alleged foulplay in counting of the seats and claimed that the party has looted over 100 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Bharatiya Janata Party's sweep of West Bengal'S 2026 Assembly Elections a "historic victory" and stated that the "people's power" has triumphed according to a post from him on 'X'.
ALSO READ: PM Modi's First Reaction On BJP's Bengal Sweep — 'Historic Victory, People's Power Has Triumphed'
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