IT Desk
Imphal, May 2:
Ruling parties were poised to return to power in three states with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress striding way ahead of the BJP in West Bengal while the BJP was comfortably ahead in Assam as was the LDF in Kerala, Election Commission trends indicated on Sunday.
As votes were counted for the assembly polls in four states and one union territory with strict Covid protocols in place, trends indicated that Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK could cede power to arch rival DMK. In Puducherry, the AINRC-led NDA was headed towards power.
The BJP has spearheaded the NDA’s way well beyond the majority mark as the saffron party is leading in more than 74 Assembly seats against Congress-led alliance’s 42 out of a total of 126 seats in Assam. While incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and state Finance and Health Minister and BJP’s star campaigner Himanta Biswa Sarma won from Majauli and Jalukbari constituencies, respectively, incarcerated anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi is leading in Sibsagar seat, suggests initial trends of Assam assembly election results.
The Election Commission began counting votes for the 126 assemblies in Assam elections amid a three-tier security arrangement and strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.
Despite display of all its might, the BJP ruling the centre was unable to oust reigning queen Mamata Banerjee, who remained well entrenched with her party Trinmool Congress (TMC) retaining/leading in 210 seats out of 292 seats in the assembly elections, the results of which were announced on Sunday. The Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Sunday defeated her BJP rival Suvedu Adhikari in Nandigram by over 1,200 votes.
As the counting of votes for the West Bengal election continues on Sunday, the Election Commission data showed that Trinamool Congress is all set to return to power in the state. Commenting on the possible poll outcome, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya credited Mamata Banerjee for TMC’s win, saying ‘it seems Bengal has chosen Didi’.
“The TMC won because of Mamata Banerjee. It seems people have chosen Didi. We will introspect what went wrong, whether it was organisational issues, lack of face, insider- outsider debate. We will see what went wrong,” Vijayvargiya said.
Meanwhile, Babul Supriyo and actor Yash Gupta are trailing from Tollygunge and Chanditala constituencies respectively. Locket Chatterjee is also trailing from Chunsura.
TMC ministers Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee are leading in Kolkata Port, Ballygunge and Behala West constituencies respectively.
The Election Commission of India will declare the West Bengal Election Result today. The politically charged state witnessed a high voltage campaign by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and the resurgent BJP. Though the Left, Congress and Indian Secular Front (ISF) are also in the fray, the West Bengal Assembly Elections are a bipolar contest between the ruling party and the saffron party.
According to the latest figures released by the Election Commission, Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool has extended its lead in 207 Assembly seats, while the BJP is ahead in 78.
On the other hand in Tamil Nadu, with DMK coasting towards victory in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls on its own as it leads in 119 seats and allies further beef up the tally, the Dravidian party is all set to form government in the state of Tamil Nadu after a decade.
As per the Election Commission, the DMK is leading in 119 seats on its own.
If the trend continues till the end, then it will have the majority on its own to form the next government.
To get a simple majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, a party should win 118 seats.
In Kerala, the LDF is leading in 95 of the state’s 140 constituencies. The UDF is leading in 43 seats.
The 2021 Kerala assembly election was a one-phase election held on April 6, 2021. The Kerala assembly has 140 seats – so a party or alliance needs to win 71 to form the government, a number the LDF seems to be comfortable crossing.
In these elections, the LDF was looking to retain power while the United Democratic Front (UDF) was hoping to make a comeback. The BJP-led National Democratic Front (NDA) has also launched a vigorous campaign, hoping to improve its vote share.
LDF’s Pinarayi Vijayan has been the chief minister since 2016.
