In a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was leading in 31 seats, bucking exit polls predictions, according to ongoing counting for the Lok Sabha elections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Most of the exit polls had predicted that the BJP would get more seats than the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party had secured 18 seats with 40.64 per cent vote share, while Trinamool had bagged 22 seats with 43.69 per cent vote share.<\/p>\n
As per the trends till 2 pm, Trinamool Congress was leading in 31 constituencies, while the BJP was leading only in 10 constituencies. The congress was leading in one constituency.<\/p>\n
Last time, the Congress had won two seats. The Left did not get a single seat.<\/p>\n
For the BJP, its state president Sukanta Majumdar and former state president Dilip Ghosh were trailing from Balurghat seat in North Bengal and\u00a0Bardhaman-Durgapur seat in South Bengal, respectively. While Ghosh was trailing by over 69,000 votes, Majumdar was trailing by a low margin of around 4300 votes.<\/p>\n
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In a major jolt, the saffron party\u2019s candidate Rekha Patra was trailing by over 15 lakh votes from Basirhat constituency, where TMC\u2019s SK Nurul Islam was leading. Notably, Sandeshkhali falls under the Basirhat LS constituency.<\/p>\n
Sandeshkhali, a small island in the Sundarban delta in West Bengal\u2019s North 24-Parganas district, has emerged as an epicentre of a major political storm for the last five months with allegations and counter-allegations between the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state and the BJP heating up the scene. In the alleged violence and sexual harassment against women, a controversial TMC leader is the main accused. The BJP fielded Rekha Patra, one of the alleged victims of the violence, from the seat to take on Islam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has applauded Patra as \u201cShakti Swaroopa\u201d (the image of courage).<\/p>\n
BJP\u2019s candidate and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gagopadhyay was leading from Tamluk constituency in South Bengal by over 17,000 votes.<\/p>\n
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is seeking re-election from the Diamond Harbour LS seat in South 24 Parganas district, was leading by 4.66 lakh votes.<\/p>\n
Trinamool Congress\u2019 firebrand leader Mahua Moitra, who is contesting from Krishnanagar seat against BJP\u2019s Amrita Roy, was leading by a margin of over 49,000 votes.<\/p>\n
The LS elections for the 42 constituencies in the state held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.<\/p>\n
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