West Bengal Election Results 2024 Highlights: TMC wins 29 seats, BJP’s share reduces to 12

A day after his defeat from the Baharampur parliamentary constituency, veteran Congress leader and five-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday said he wasn't certain of what his political future would look like, as reported by PTI. 

The party's prime mover in West Bengal and the state Pradesh Congress president was stunned by Trinamool Congress's star candidate and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan who comprehensively defeated Chowdhury by a margin of over 85,000 votes.

With Chowdhury vanquished, Congress lost its political grip over Baharampur, which was among the last standing Congress bastions of the state, and was reduced to a party with just the Malda Dakshin seat from Bengal.

Speaking to a Bengali TV channel at his Baharampur residence, Chowdhury said he was apprehending “hard times” for himself in the days ahead.

“In my endeavour to fight this government, I have neglected my sources of income. I call myself a BPL MP. I have no other skills apart from politics. So I will have difficulties for myself in the days ahead and I have no clue how to overcome them,” the 68-year-old leader said.

Hinting at "conspiracy and backbiting" behind his electoral loss, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday said it needs to be examined why the party could not maintain its momentum of growth in West Bengal after the 2021 assembly elections, as reported by PTI. 

Speaking to reporters, Ghosh said he fought from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat with all sincerity but could not get success.
"...conspiracies and backbiting are part of politics. I take them that way. Despite that, I worked hard enough, but success did not come. In politics, everyone walks around with a stick to poke you," he said.

Ghosh, who won from the Medinipur seat in 2019, lost to TMC's Kirti Azad in Bardhaman-Durgapur by 1.37 lakh votes this time.

Ghosh, who was removed as the state president of the BJP in 2021, said it needs to be examined why the party could not maintain its momentum of growth in West Bengal after the last assembly polls. "The party was moving at a faster pace till 2021, which somehow got stuck after that. We could not move at the same pace in which we were moving till 2021. We had hoped a lot this year, but could not perform. There must be some gap. We must examine that. Everything should be discussed," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called a meeting of newly elected Lok Sabha MPs of TMC on Saturday, party sources said, as reported by PTI. 

The TMC maintained its dominance in the state as Banerjee led her party to a resounding victory after securing 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, whereas the principal opposition BJP was down to 12 and the Congress to one seat.

“The party supremo has convened a meeting of our newly elected MPs on Saturday. During the meeting, the political situation will be discussed,” a TMC leader said.

Banerjee had walked out of the INDIA bloc in West Bengal in January but asserted that the TMC would continue to be part of the opposition alliance at the national level.

On the way to attend the crucial INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said he is looking forward to it with a positive mindset.

The Diamond Harbour MP said TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee got the invite from INDIA bloc leaders to attend the meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Wednesday evening to decide on the strategy to form the government .

When asked about the course of action the INDIA bloc would take after it won 232 Lok Sabha seats, Banerjee said, “Let there be deliberations first. Let all INDIA bloc leaders meet first and then accordingly I will speak after the discussion. Too early to talk about our plans. Let us come to some conclusions first. Leaders are coming to Delhi from all parts of India. Let us first talk”.

Abhishek Banerjee said that till a month ago, BJP leaders were flying to West Bengal and asking the people to give the party 30 Lok Sabha seats and it would make the the TMC government fall. 'Now see the irony. I would rather ask BJP leaders to make more such predictions. They had asserted that BJP would get 30 seats and we got this (29),' he said.

'It (the poll results) is a culmination of everything. What has the government done?. They could not produce their report cards of the development work. That is why the BJP resorted to divisive and communal politics. So I salute everyone who uprooted this communal forces,' he added.

"You shut the door. We broke the wall down," said TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a post on the social media site X after securing her win from Krishnanagar by defeating Amrita Roy from the BJP with 56,705 votes. Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha last year in the cash-for-query scam. 

People belonging to the minority community helped TMC sweep Muslim-majority pockets in the southern region of West Bengal while the division of their votes facilitated BJP's victories in the northern part of the state, political analysts said on Wednesday as reported by PTI. 

In a state where minority voters constitute around 30 per cent of the electorate, their influence extends to 16-18 Lok Sabha seats, making them a coveted voting bloc for all parties.

Several parliamentary seats in both north and south Bengal, such as Raiganj, Cooch Behar, Balurghat, Malda North, Malda South, Murshidabad, Diamond Harbour, Uluberia, Howrah, Birbhum, Kanthi, Tamluk, Mathurapur and Joynagar, have significant Muslim populations.

In Balurghat, Raiganj and Malda North , the Left-Congress alliance candidates bagged more votes than the BJP nominees' victory margins. The icing on the cake for the TMC, however, was wresting the prized Baharampur Lok Sabha seat from its five-term sitting MP and Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

According to minority leaders, Muslims in West Bengal, pivotal in several Lok Sabha seats, were inclined towards the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC. With the Indian Secular Front (ISF) deciding to go solo, efforts to woo minority voters become more challenging for the Left and the Congress, especially with the saffron party capitalising on various polarising issues such as the Ram Mandir and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Trinamool Congress candidate Abhishek Banerjee Wednesday received his certificate after winning from Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Banerjee defeated Abhijit Das Bobby of the BJP by 7,10,930 votes.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, "To my beloved DIAMOND HARBOUR family, I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your overwhelming support and trust. I am committed to repaying your love, trust, and faith by serving you with dedication and leaving no stone unturned over the next five years and beyond."

The BJP on Tuesday lost ground in the key state of West Bengal, with its tally plummeting from 18 to 12. The party that posted its best-ever result five years ago faced the second big setback in the state after the loss in the Assembly elections three years ago.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), meanwhile kept up its dominance in state politics, benefitting from the anti-incumbency votes getting divided between the BJP, Left, and Congress even as the anti-BJP vote remained intact.

Where did the TMC make gains and the BJP lose footing? What worked for the TMC?

Read the Political Pulse here.

Refuting predictions made by a majority of exit polls for West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress registered a 45.77 per cent vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, up by more than two per cent from the 43.7 per cent of votes it received in 2019.

Translated into seats, the party romped home with an impressive number of 29 seats.

Compared to its 2019 performance, this meant that the TMC bagged seven more seats in the total repository of 42 seats in the state.

Considering the fact that the TMC registered a positive vote swing of 4.64 per cent in its favour even in 2019 despite what many consider a dismal performance by the party, in the wake of the BJP running home with 18 seats that year and registering a hike of a stupendous 22.2 per cent vote share in the process, the ruling dispensation of the state, to the delight of its leaders, certainly maintained an upwardly moving swing curve this year.

Here's the complete list of winners from West Bengal.

How will the third Narendra Modi government differ from the two previous ones that came to power in 2014 and 2019? The answer will lie in the composition of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha. Here are a few things that will change.

After a decade, back to days of coalitions at the Centre

For the better part of the last 34 years, India has been governed by a coalition of political parties. It is only in the last 10 years that a single political party — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — led a majority government at the Centre, crossing the halfway mark in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019.

What else is likely to change? We explain.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Mahua Moitra on Wednesday took to X (formerly Twitter) to mark her victory from West Bengal's Krishnanagar seat in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

She wrote, "You shut the door. We broke the wall down."

Here's what TMC's Abhishek Banerjee had to say after TMC increased its numbers in the Lok Sabha. Banerjee won from Diamond Harbour, the third consecutive time, by a record margin of over 7 lakh votes.

After the BJP-led NDA alliance fell short of gaining the expected numbers, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that in states where the BJP expected to increase its numbers, like West Bengal, Haryana, and Rajasthan, people have rejected them.

Pilot claimed that the public didn't like the BJP's narrative of "Mandir-Masjid", "Hindu-Muslim". "The states in which the BJP expected to increase its numbers, like West Bengal, Haryana and Rajasthan, the people have rejected them there... The issues we brought up were liked by the people... Our narrative was optimistic, BJP's narrative was Mandir-Masjid, Hindu-Muslim and Mangalsutra. The people may have not liked it... Who would have taken the credit if they (BJP) had gone above 400?... Those who wanted the credit have to accept that the public did not give them their expected mandate," said Pilot while talking to ANI.

The Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal witnessed a gripping battle between sitting TMC MP Mahua Moitra and BJP's candidate Amrita Roy. Despite initial trailing, Moitra defeated Amrita Roy from the BJP with 56,705 votes. This victory comes after a challenging period for Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha last year due to allegations of "unethical conduct". The BJP's strategic move to field 'Rajmata' Amrita Roy added an interesting twist to the elections in Krishnanagar. With the seat being TMC's stronghold since 2009, this election has been closely watched. 

Isha Khan Choudhury emerged as the Congress party’s sole flag bearer in West Bengal to the lower house of Parliament. Khan Chowdhury, as reported by multiple TV channels, won the Malda Dakshin seat by a margin of more than 1.15 lakh votes over his nearest rival, BJP’s Sreeupa Mitra Chaudhury, aka Nirbhaya Didi. TMC candidate Shahnawaz Ali Raihan finished the contest as a distant third.

In the 2024 elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had fielded former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan from the seat.

Adhir blamed the BJP’s “polarisation” for his defeat. “I congratulate the TMC candidate for his victory. I have accepted my defeat. The BJP indulged in polarisation in Baharampur which led to our defeat,” Adhir said while talking to reporters on Tuesday. Pathan said his first priority after being sworn in as an MP would be to set up a cricket academy in Baharampur.

The 2024 Lok Sabha election results ushered in many a surprise in West Bengal, with Congress state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s loss in Baharampur parliamentary constituency being a key one. A five-time MP, Chowdhury had won from the seat for the first time in 1999.

Good morning! 

1. Defying exit polls, The All India Trinamool Congress won in 29 seats, gaining 7 more since 2019
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 12 seats, losing six 
?3. The Indian National Congress won in one seat, as compared to two in 2019.  
?

Union minister Shantanu Thakur retained the refugee-dominated Bongaon seat, where the polls served as a crucial test for the BJP's key agenda after the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act rules.

Meanwhile, both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party fared poorly in all, but one, seats where they had fielded turncoats. The TMC had nominated four turncoats who were either elected representatives from other parties or had joined the party in recent years. The BJP, on the other hand, had in their list of candidates included five contestants who joined the party from TMC.

However, election commission data says except one, none of the nine candidates tasted success.

The Trinamool Congress has wrested the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal from the BJP. TMC candidate June defeated BJP's Agnimitra Paul by a margin of 27,191 votes, the EC data showed. An actor-turned-politician, June clinched 7,02,192 votes, while Paul, the state general secretary of the BJP, got 6,75,001 votes. While Maliah is the MLA of Medinipur assembly seat, while Paul is the legislator from Asansol Dakshin.

CPI(M)'s state secretary Mohammed Salim is trailing by a huge margin of 1.6 lakh votes to the Trinamool Congress' Abu Taher Khan in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday, the data published by Election Commission said. Salim is one of the CPI(M)'s heavily banked upon candidates this elections in West Bengal, where the left Front could not win a single seat in the 2019.

"India has won, Modiji has lost. They have even lost in Ayodhya," says Banerjee slams PM Modi.

"I am happy Modiji didn't get an absolute majority. He should immediately resign as he lost his credibility. Modi ji is now falling at the feet of TDP and Nitish...," Mamata Banerjee said in her press conference.

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has broken West Bengal’s record for the highest victory margin, as he is currently leading by a margin of 7,03,137 votes in the Diamond Harbour constituency.

Banerjee not only broke that record but also touched the 7 lakh-plus vote margin which is unprecedented in West Bengal electoral politics.

Read full story by Santanu Chowdhury

As per Election Commission trends, Trinamool Congress has won 2 seats and is leading in 27 seats. BJP is leading in 12 seats and Congress is leading in 1 seat.

'Even after all the Spoke to Uddhav, Sharad Pawar and Aam Aadmi Party. You can control ECI, CBI, but INDIA bloc will take you down. I don't agree with Bihar results,' saya TMC leader Mamata. She also alleged BJP of speading lies in Sandeshkhali and even snatched jobs from people of West Bengal.'

'These results have shown that Modi has lost all credibility and he should immediately resign. A lot of people underestimated me this time. I don't understand share market much, but have you seen the share market today?,' Mamata says.

'You can control ECI, CBI, but INDIA bloc will take you down,' says Mamata Banerjee in the press conference.

Mamata Banerjee is holding a press conference at Kalighat after TMC secured maximum votes.

Rahul Gandhi praises Uttar Pradesh voters for 'understanding the danger on constitution and supporting INDIA bloc'. He also thanked his sister, Priyanka Gandhi for helping in UP elections.

'The Indian Constitution has been saved by the poor and weak people of India. I want to assure them that we will live by all the promises we made and we will stand by you,' says Rahul Gandhi.

'The fight was to save the Indian Constitution,' says Rahul Gandhi at the Congress press conference.

As the INDIA bloc secures over 230 seats, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the people’s mandate is a win for the people of the country and the democracy.

Follow live updates about the press conference here

As of now, 5 TMC candidates have been declared winners, and one Congress candidate has also registered victory.

TMC star candidate Rachana Banerjee declared winner from Hooghly constituency, defeating sitting BJP MP Locket Chatterjee. TMC Sreerampur candidate Kalyan Banerjee has also been declared winner.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is about to begin a press conference soon. Rahul Gandhi has won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 4 lakh votes.

Follow live updates about the press conference here

"I am very happy that I have won but much happier at the resounding slap that this country has given on Mr Modi's face. The BJP has pitched brothers against brothers and Hindus against Muslims and they have done the worst kind of divisive politics. Indians have finally given them an answer," says TMC candidate from West Bengal's Krishnanagar Mahua Moitra.

Congress' Maldaha Dakshin candidate Isha Khan Choudhury declared winner by a margin of over 1.15 lakh votes.

Counting of votes is carried out under the supervision and direction of the Returning Officer (RO) for each seat, in the presence of the candidates and their election agents. RO is usually the District Magistrate of the district concerned, and is nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The actual counting of votes in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at various tables is done by counting officials appointed by the RO. The number of counting officials is decided by the RO on the basis of the anticipated number of postal ballots and the number of counting tables.

Read more here

TMC win-lead 29 seats, BJP leading in 12 seats while Congress leading in 1 seat.

This evening, The Indian Express is ready to bring the latest updates for you related to the 18th Lok Sabha election results. You will find all the latest happenings and updates for West Bengal on this page. So, grab your cup of coffee and get reading.

All West Bengal readers are cautioned to step out carefully today as the West Bengal government has imposed prohibitory orders in 17 areas under two gram panchayats in Sandeshkhali till the evening on June 4.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee addresses her party supporters after TMC's Mahua Moitra, Shatrughan Sinha, Kirti Azad declared winners from Krishnanagar, Asansol and Bardhaman-Durgapur respectively.

(Express photo by Partha Paul)

Actor and TMC's TMC Asansol candidate Shatrughan Sinha has also been declared as winner against BJP's Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia.

Abhishek Banerjee breaks highest lead/win margin in Bengal. He is leading by a margin of 6,93,420 votes. Previous best was CPIM's Anil Basu's win margin in 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Arambagh (6,82,502)

Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee is maintaining his lead from Diamond Harbour with over 6,87,751 votes.

TMC candidate Mahua Moitra declared winner from Krishnanagar. TMC's Bardhaman-Durgapur candidate Kirti Azad has also been declared winner.

No candidate in Bengal has been declared winner as of now. As per Election Commission trends, TMC is leading with 29 seats.

Famed actor and TMC Asansol Lok Sabha candidate Shatrughan Sinha is leading with over 60,000 votes, while BJP's Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia is trailing behind.

TMC's Baharampur candidate and ex-cricketer, Yusuf Pathan has a lead of 34594 votes, as per the Election commission trends. Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was leading earlier but is currently trailing.

Mahua Moitra is TMC’s nominee for Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2019 elections too, she won as an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party candidate from Krishnanagar.

When asked what she thinks about her BJP opponent Amrita Roy, she said, "I think the BJP has lost the plot. I have nothing personal to say against the candidate. I have nothing against her and I wish her well. I will win by a lakh. Over a lakh."

Read her full interview here

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, TMC had won 22 seats, while BJP came very close by winning 18 seats. Congress meanwhile got only 2 seats. The exit polls in 2019 were very close as BJP was expected to win 19 to 23 seats and the Trinamool 19 to 22 seats.

This time, however, the exit polls predicted a close match between BJP and TMC, which has not come true as Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has secured 30+ seats.

Phase 1 was on April 19, and the constituencies were Coochbehar, Alipurduars, and Jalpaiguri.

Phase 2 was on April 26. The constituencies were Darjeeling, Raiganj, and Balurghat.

Phase 3 was on May 7, and the constituencies were Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur, and Murshidabad.

Phase 4 was on May 13. The constituencies were Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bardhaman Purba, Bardhaman Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur, and Birbhum.

Phase 5 was on May 20. The constituencies were Bangaon, Barrackpur, Howrah, Uluberia, Sreerampur, Hooghly, and Arambag.

Phase 6 was held on May 25. The constituencies were Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur.

Phase 7 constituencies were Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar.

Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee extends his lead to over 6 lakh votes in Diamond Harbour. Also, TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan is also leading by a margin of over 31,000 votes in Baharampur.

This election, India has created a world record as 64.2 crore voters cast their vote.  “India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.

As per the Election Commission trends, Yusuf Pathan is leading in Baharampur by a margin of 19,013 votes.

TMC Bolpur candidate Asit Mal leads by a margin of over 2 lakh votes

Abhishek Banerjee extends his lead to over 4.65 lakh votes in Diamond Harbour.

As per the Election Commission trends, TMC is leading in West Bengal with 32 seats. Check part-wise division of seats:

TMC- 32

BJP- 9

Congress- 1