Bengal Panchayat Polls Results Out: 100, 92, 80% – that’s TMC strike rate in zilla parishad, panchayat samiti and gram panchayat election

The landslide victory was spread across the state — from South 24 Parganas to Cooch Behar in the north. In the two Hill districts of Kalimpong and Darjeeling, the TMC was not able to open its account, but its ally BGPM (Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha) won a majority – 30/42 gram panchayats in Kalimpong and 38/70 gram panchayats in Darjeeling.

TMC’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said that the “roaring mandate” would pave the way for the party’s performance in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP, which emerged as the main Opposition after winning 77 seats in the 2021 state Assembly polls, failed to win a single zilla parishad, the top tier of the three-tier panchayat system.

In terms of seats in zilla parishads, the TMC won 880 out of the total 928 seats, BJP managed to win only 31 seats, while the Congress and Left Front won 13 and two seats, respectively.

In panchayat samitis, the second-tier, the TMC won a massive 313 panchayat samitis, while the BJP won only seven. The Left Front won two, while the Congress failed to open its account. Other parties, including Independents, won nine panchayat samitis, while there was a hung condition in 11 panchayat samitis.

When it came to gram panchayats, the lowest tier in the panchayat system, the TMC won 2,641 out of 3,317. Putting up a better performance, the BJP won 230 gram panchayats. The Congress and Left Front won 11 and 19 gram panchayats, respectively. However, no party could emerge as a clear winner in 267 gram panchayats. Others and Independents won 149.

The Trinamool Congress has won a majority of gram panchayats in almost all districts — Howrah (152 out of 157), North 24 Parganas (189 out of 199), South 24 Parganas (281 out of 310), Purba Bardhaman (208 out of 215), Hooghly (189 out of 207), Dakshin Dinajpur (55 out of 64), Paschim Medinipur (194 out of 211), Cooch Behar (101 out of 128), Jhargram (63 out of 79), Alipurduar (54 out of 64), Bankura (162 out of 190), Jalpaiguri (66 out of 80) and most importantly in Murshidabad (221 out of 250) which witnessed violence.

In Malda, once a Congress stronghold, the TMC won 59 of the 146 gram panchayats, falling short of a majority, while 64 gram panchayats remained undecided. The district had witnessed large-scale violence during the election.

The BJP put up its best performance in Purba Medinipur district where it won 61 gram panchayats out of the total 223. Purba Medinipur is the home district of Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

In neighbouring Nadia district, the BJP won 44 gram panchayats out of the total 185.

Going by the gram panchayat results, the BJP lost ground in Junglemahal and north Bengal regions – considered the party’s stronghold since 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it won 18 seats in the state.

The panchayat elections were held on July 8 in over 61,000 booths, with a voter turnout of 80.71 per cent.