West Bengal Election Exit Poll 2026 Highlights: TMC alleges EVM tampering, calls it ‘murder of democracy’; BJP rejects charges

A day after West Bengal Assembly polls concluded, state Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said a three-layer security has been put in place in the state ahead of vote counting.

He also ruled out repolling in Nadia, Kolkata North and Kolkata South, a day after political parties witnessed tensions and incidents of clashes on the second and final day of polling in West Bengal "Everything is complete in Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, Kolkata North and Kolkata South. No repolling is scheduled here. Partial work was complete, by the time I received report, in Howrah, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and other districts. But there was no issue of repolling there...Maybe at this point in time, 80-90% of the work is complete. I am speaking to you based on the reports received at 3-3.30 pm," CEO Agarwal told reporters.

The official also said that a three-tier security mechanism has been prescribed for entry at counting centres "For counting agents and counting personnel, ECI has started a QR code. It has been started from these elections itself when votes are counted in the 5 states that went to polls. ECI has also said that any by-election or election that takes place after this, this will be brought into use. So, there will be a QR code in appointment letters generated by ECI software. A 3-layer security is put in place. In the third layer of security, verification will be done through QR code." he added.

With ANI inputs

Another exit poll by News 18 for West Bengal predicted a close fight with BJP gaining 143-163 seats and the TMC 127-147 seats.

PTI input

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly says, "It’s good that people have voted. I have voted as a citizen, that’s it."

With PTI inputs

Today’s Chanakya has predicted the BJP to win more than 192 seats in West Bengal, with TMC gaining merely 100 seats. The agency has projected the saffron party to win more than 48% of the vote share, TMC 38% and Others 14%.

"We are forming the government of Mother—Land—People. Joy Bangla!", says Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

TMC MP Sougata Roy on exit poll, says, "I do not agree with this. It is all guesswork and does not reveal any real truth. I do not agree with the exit polls. It seems to me that if, for example, there is a 12 per cent drop in votes in one place, that same percentage appears as an increase somewhere else, making it balance out overall. So essentially, it remains the same."

Chanakya Strategies has predicted 150 to 160 seats for the BJP, with the TMC dropping to 130 to 140 seats and other parties taking 2 to 6 seats.

On exit poll predictions, Congress leader PC Sharma says, "Their (BJP) entire focus is on Bengal, they want to remove the TMC and Mamata Banerjee from power there by any means. They haven't really focused on Kerala; in Kerala, there is a strong possibility of a UDF government coming to power. The three-day special session of Parliament on women's reservation, held during ongoing elections in four states, was only meant to set a narrative, that they are working for women so they can secure women's votes, especially in Bengal."

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said West Bengal had recorded the highest ever polling percentage in both phases since Independence. The election results will be announced, along with those for polls in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, on May 4.

“Highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal in both Phase I and II since Independence. Chunav ka Parv, Paschim Bengal ka Garv,” CEC Kumar said.

On exit poll predictions, Congress leader Ajay Kumar Lallu says, “Congress will perform well in Bengal. Exit polls are compelled to give an edge to the government.”

Janmat poll predictions are as follows

TMC: 195-205

BJP: 80-90

Congress: 1-3

Left: 0-1

Others: 3-5

So, the West Bengal Exit poll results will be out in a few hours and the predictions may turn out to be accurate or even at times wrong. In the past, a few agencies made accurate predictions while a few others got it wrong. Now, arises the question how accurate were the exit polls in the past years.

No exit poll after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly predicted the TMC’s strong performance and every pollster overshot the BJP’s actual tally by a significant margin, with a handful incorrectly predicting a BJP majority.

The TMC had won 215 seats and its then ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha 1 seat. The BJP had won 77 seats, while Congress ally Indian Secular Front had won 1 seat. The majority mark in Bengal’s 294-member Assembly is 148 seats.

Today’s Chanakya was the closest in its prediction, but still fell short of the actual result by a considerable margin with its estimation of 169 to 191 seats for the TMC and 97 to 119 seats for the BJP. The furthest off the mark was Jan Ki Baat, which saw the TMC falling out of power with 104 to 121 seats and the BJP comfortably clearing the majority mark with 162 to 185 seats. India Today-Axis My India had predicted a narrow majority for the BJP.

On average, the exit polls underestimated the TMC performance by 61 seats and overestimated the BJP performance by 49 seats.

In the first phase of Assembly polls held on April 23, West Bengal recorded its highest ever turnout at 91% and such a difference in trend is attributed to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls held ahead of the polls.