Mamata Banerjee said she is candidate in all seats, results reflect dent in her image
Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the Election Commission is not sharing the data on 70-100 seats where the Trinamool is leading and assured workers that Trinamool will win by the end of the day.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said she is the candidate in all seats On April 30, a day after the second and final phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress in a video message that the party would win 226 out of the 294 seats in the House.
Early trends, which show the BJP leading in 193 seats and the Trinamool ahead in 92, reflect a dent in Mamata Banerjee’s image in Bengal, an image she built over years of agitation and her strong anti-BJP stand after becoming the chief minister.
The firebrand leader is facing a seesaw fight in Bhabanipur against the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, once her trusted lieutenant.
As early trends come in, the road leading to Banerjee’s home, 30B Harish Chatterjee Street, is desolate with only policemen standing at the barricades.
Trinamool Alleges Slow Counting
Trinamool Congress has accused the Election Commission of slow counting and said the poll body is not releasing trends on all seats. Banerjee has alleged that the Election Commission is not sharing the data on 70-100 seats where the Trinamool, she claims, is leading.
“I would like to assure our party workers and counting agents that by the end of the day, we will emerge victorious. 14 to 18 rounds of counting will happen. You will surely emerge victorious. We are all with you. Don’t be afraid; fight like tigers,” she has said.
“With the help of central forces, they are harassing and torturing AITC workers. Our offices have been vandalised and forcefully captured. SIR was purposefully done to target seats where we were strong,” she said. “There are still around 70 to 100 seats where we are leading, but they are not sharing the data of those seats. A false narrative is being spread. Even the DICU has been changed yesterday. ECI is doing whatever they wish to with the help of central forces. The state police is dancing to the tunes of the central forces,” she said.
From one ‘poriborton’ to another
After ending 34 years of Left rule in 2011 and becoming the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee consolidated her position and that of her party as the main opposition against the BJP. She blocked the saffron party’s juggernaut in the 2016 and 2021 assembly polls, each time increasing seats and votes.
Even after scams and controversies sent several of her party leaders to jail, Mamata Banerjee remained a popular leader in Bengal and her image as a key Opposition face endured.
In 2011, Trinamool got 184 seats and a vote share of 38.93 per cent. In 2016, it got 211 seats and 44.91 per cent vote share. In 2021, Trinamool got 215 and a 48.02 per cent vote share.
But the assembly poll results indicate that the firebrand leader’s campaign, her SIR pitch, her targeting of the Election Commission, her dole politics and the ‘Bohiragoto (outsider)’ tag to the BJP failed to appeal to voters this time.
Trinamool Congress lost seats not only in North Bengal, but in its stronghold, South Bengal, and its candidates now trail in districts such as Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Paschim Bardhaman and Nadia.
CM Mamata Banerjee greets people during a campaign rally in her constituency ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, in Kolkata, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
A Setback On National Level
On February 4, Banerjee pleaded against SIR in the Supreme Court. She consistently took on the Election Commission and also invoked Bengali identity politics, claiming that the BJP will ban fish and meat if it came to power in Bengal.
In frequent public meetings during the campaign, Banerjee was heard asserting that she is the candidate in all 294 seats.
A loss in Bengal means a major jolt to her national standing and to the Trinamool Congress, which has been seen spearheading the opposition on various issues in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The challenge for Banerjee is also to keep her flock together after the poll results. In a party centered around her and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s general secretary and MP, it would be difficult to keep grassroots leaders together.
Also, it is expected that central agencies will tighten the noose on several Trinamool leaders and ministers currently under investigation into corruption cases. Banerjee herself is being investigated for barging into the political consultancy firm IPAC’s office and the residence of Prateek Jain, one of its directors, during an ED raid.
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