ECI Bhabanipur Election Results 2026 Highlight: Battle heats up as Mamata’s lead over BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari shrinks

The counting process in Bhabanipur has reportedly been halted, according to several TV reports. However, the Election Commission of India website continues to show that 13 rounds have been completed, with Mamata Banerjee leading Suvendu Adhikari by 5,349 votes.

TMC Chairperson & CM Mamata Banerjee continues to lead in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency with a margin of 7184 votes against BJP's Suvendu Adhikari at 4.24 pm according to the Election Commission

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a serious allegation during counting. She entered a counting centre in Kolkata and told reporters, “Yes, they are looting our counting centres”. Earlier in the day, she had already claimed that there were irregularities in the Assembly Elections 2026 counting process. She accused the Election Commission of India and central forces of acting unfairly and said counting had been stopped in several places where her party was doing well.

Of the 293 seats, the party is leading on 195 as of now.

Bhabanipur election results LIVE: After 12 rounds of counting in Bhabanipur, the gap between Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari has narrowed further. Mamata is still ahead with 44,729 votes, while Suvendu follows with 37,545 votes, trailing by 7,184 votes. The contest continues to tighten as more rounds are being counted.

After nine rounds of counting in Bhabanipur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is still ahead.

However, the gap has started to shrink slightly. She is now leading BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by 13,842 votes, down from a margin of over 19,000 votes earlier in the day.

With several rounds still left, the contest continues to tighten, and the next few rounds will be closely watched.

On West Bengal elections 2026, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya told ANI, "This is a historic win in West Bengal. Mamata's misgovernance was defeated, and the BJP's good governance won. Belief in PM Modi won, and Mamata Didi's fear was defeated... One should support Akhilesh Yadav today... When they lost, EVM will become bad, and when they won, EVM will become fine."

Several BJP leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the party’s strong early performance in West Bengal, as trends showed the BJP ahead in a large number of seats.

Assembly Constituency 159 – Bhabanipur (West Bengal)

After 8 out of 20 rounds of counting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has built a strong lead in the constituency.

Mamata Banerjee (AITC) is currently ahead with 35,522 votes, leading by 15,494 votes over BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari.

Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) is in second place with 20,028 votes, trailing by a wide margin at this stage of counting.

Other candidates remain far behind as per the latest figures:

Shrijeeb Biswas (CPI(M)) – 697 votes
Pradip Prasad (INC) – 504 votes
Subrata Bose (Independent) – 148 votes
SK Safi Ahamed (SUCI-C) – 59 votes
Anumita Shaw (Independent) – 46 votes
Narayan Das (Independent) – 34 votes
Safar Sekh (Independent) – 28 votes
Manika Mukherjee (Bharatiya Nyay-Adhikar Raksha Party) – 24 votes
Malay Guha Roy (Independent) – 19 votes

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cautioned voters and party workers against “fake news” as early trends showed the BJP moving close to the 200-seat mark in the state.

She also alleged that the TMC was leading in several seats that were not being reflected in the trends.

“There are around 100 seats in which the TMC is ahead but it is not being revealed,” she said.

In a video message shared on Facebook, Banerjee urged counting agents and candidates to stay at counting centres and not step away, claiming that the process was being influenced.

She said counting patterns were being shown unevenly in the initial rounds and alleged irregularities at several locations, including cases where machines did not match.

She further alleged pressure on the party and said central forces were being used in a way that affected the process. She also claimed that results were being “shown selectively” and that misleading information was being circulated.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues to stay ahead in Bhabanipur as counting progresses. After seven rounds, she is leading with 17,371 votes, while BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari trails with 15,451 votes, with the gap widening between the two.

West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya struck a calmer note while reacting to early trends.

“Everyone is awake. Workers everywhere are awake. We want Didi to unwind and rest a little. The election is over now. The results are about to come. There will be ups and downs,” he said.

He also added, “If we, my party, made any mistakes, any personal attacks, or hit below the belt, I apologised for that already... I apologise even today...”

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is contesting from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, sounded confident as trends came in.

“BJP is forming the Government. Initial trends show BJP as 135 plus and approx 100 to TMC. Initially, it will be a neck-to-neck fight in Bhabanipur. In the first round of counting, out of the 14 booths, 6 are Muslim-majority. They used to get 90-95% of those votes last time, but it didn't happen this time; there is a crack. I am leading the 8 Hindu booths. From round 9-10 in Bhabanipur, I will be leading,” he said.

He also pointed to a shift in voting patterns.

“There is anti-incumbency, plus Hindus are consolidated in favour of the Lotus. This is a very good signal for us... There has also been a Muslim vote bifurcation, especially in Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur,” he added.

During an election rally, Amit Shah had made a bold prediction about counting day. A video of that speech is now going viral again.

He had said:

“4 मई को सुबह काउंटिंग चालू होगी, 8 बजे बैलेट बॉक्स खुलेगा, 9 बजे पहला राउंड, 10 बजे दूसरा राउंड और 1 बजे दीदी….टाटा बाय-बाय”

(“On May 4, counting will start in the morning, ballot boxes will open at 8, first round at 9, second round at 10, and by 1 PM... Didi, Tata Bye-Bye.”)

The clip, shared by senior journalist Rahul Shivshankar and others, is now being circulated widely as early trends appear to favour the BJP.

Speaking to ANI, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said, "I have instructed the DM that no permission be granted for victory processions today. Permission will be granted starting tomorrow. Permissions will be issued at police stations; our effort is to maintain peace... This is the first time that no incidents of violence occurred during the elections and today during the counting of votes. I request the people to maintain peace."

According to Election Commission trends, the BJP is leading in 121 seats. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is behind at 71 seats, while its ally BGPM is ahead in one seat.

At the same time, several news channels are projecting even higher numbers for the BJP. Some estimates show the party leading in around 160 seats in the 294-member Assembly, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 148. In these projections, the TMC is seen leading in about 121 seats.

While these numbers are still changing, they point to a strong performance by the BJP.

BJP workers were seen distributing sweets outside the counting centre in Bhabanipur after the party crossed the majority mark in West Bengal.

In Bhabanipur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is currently leading BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by 898 votes after 3 out of 20 rounds of counting.

Just In: BJP crosses the majority mark in West Bengal, leading on 148 seats currently. Counting is still underway.

On the early trends, West Bengal LoP and BJP candidate from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, Suvendu Adhikari, says, "All Hindus are united in favour of Narendra Modi... After four rounds of counting, the BJP is forming its government. Hindu EVMs mean BJP, Muslim EVMs mean TMC, except Malda, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur, where people have voted for Congress."

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed that Muslim voters have not backed the Trinamool Congress the way they did earlier, adding that a similar pattern can be seen in Bhabanipur.

“I will go ahead after the ninth or tenth round and emerge as the winner in the seat,” he said, also claiming that Hindu votes have consolidated in favour of the BJP.

Even before counting began, there were signs of tension on the ground.

A verbal clash broke out between TMC and BJP agents outside the counting centre at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhabanipur. Supporters had gathered outside, and the situation briefly became tense before authorities stepped in to restore order.

Security has been tight across counting centres, with officials arriving early to prepare for the process.

The battle for Bhabanipur is turning into a real nail-biter. As counting continues, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again taken the lead, but the contest with BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari remains extremely close.

After the third round of counting, Mamata is ahead by 898 votes. But the lead has changed hands multiple times through the morning.

Counting began early in the morning, starting with postal ballots, while EVMs were opened later.

As per official data, only a small number of rounds have been completed so far, with many more still to go. At one stage, only 1 out of 20 rounds had been counted, leaving a long way before the final result is declared.

Authorities have also made it clear that no victory rallies will be allowed today.

In 2021, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, in one of the biggest political upsets in the state. After that loss, Mamata returned to the Assembly by winning the Bhabanipur bypoll.

Now, the two are facing each other again in Bhabanipur, making this a closely watched rematch.

The big question is whether Suvendu can repeat history and defeat a sitting Chief Minister again. For now, the answer remains unclear.

The day began with Suvendu Adhikari taking an early lead when counting started. Soon after, Mamata Banerjee moved ahead, only for Suvendu to regain the lead again after two rounds of counting.

At one point, he was leading by more than 1,558 votes. But the situation shifted again as more rounds were counted.

Earlier, Mamata had also built a lead of over 1,996 votes, according to Election Commission data, before the gap narrowed again.

With only a few rounds completed so far, and nearly 20 rounds in total, the final result is still far from clear.

According to early trends around 9:37 am, the BJP was leading in 159 seats, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was ahead in 117 seats.

At the same time, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also spoke about voting patterns. He claimed there had been a consolidation of Hindu votes and suggested that Muslim voters had not backed the TMC in the same way as before.

“I was not expecting such a good performance in the Muslim booth in Nandigram… The guarantee given by PM Modi to build Bengal under his leadership has been in his favour. There is no need to be so hasty. I will tell you after 11:00 AM…” he said.

Adding to the confidence, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said the party’s long-held goal might finally be within reach.

“The dreams of the BJP workers are about to come true. This is the worker of the entire country… The dream of forming a government from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar is going to be fulfilled today. The government will be formed and will remain in place… Didi is sure to take a rest. It will happen…” he said.

As vote counting picked up pace on Monday morning, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said his party is seeing better results than expected in West Bengal.

Sharing his early assessment, Adhikari sounded confident about how the day could unfold.

“I will take lead in certain booths, she will lead but later I will lead. In Kolkata the educated will vote for BJP. Certain seats are unexpected for BJP but a very good results. In 77 ward I will trail but after that, I will lead. It is a clear mandate. This is the win of the people of West Bengal,” he said.