Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: West Bengal’s 2026 assembly election has set the stage for a closely fought contest, with counting day expected to bring clarity after weeks of intense campaigning and historic voter participation.Exit polls have offered a mixed picture, reinforcing the sense of a tight race. Some projections suggest the BJP could reach the majority mark, while others indicate the TMC may retain power with a narrower margin. A few surveys point towards the possibility of a hung assembly.
The variation reflects the complexity of West Bengal’s electoral landscape. Local voting patterns, organisational strength, and controversies such as the revision of electoral rolls have made forecasting difficult. Past trends add to the uncertainty. In 2021, several exit polls underestimated the scale of the TMC’s victory.Trends will begin to emerge from 8am on May 4, as counting gets underway across the state’s 294 constituencies. The data will be released in real time on the Election Commission website. Live coverage, analysis and seat tallies will also be available on The Times of India.
What has happened so far
Polling for the 2026 election was held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with more than 6.8 crore voters taking part. Turnout figures were high, although partly influenced by the reduction in the total electorate after the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.The revision, which removed around 90 lakh names, has been one of the central issues of the election. The Election Commission defended the exercise as necessary to remove duplicate and ineligible entries. The TMC has argued that the process affected its support base, while the BJP supported it as a step towards cleaner electoral rolls.On the ground, political activity has remained intense even after voting ended. Party workers have been stationed outside strongrooms, security has been tightened at counting centres, and there have been reports of sporadic tensions.With counting set to begin, attention now turns to whether the result points to continuity under the TMC or a shift in power towards the BJP.
