Bhabanipur West Bengal Results 2026 LIVE: “Everything began from here,” West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said after filing her nomination from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency in south Kolkata. Banerjee is seeking a fourth consecutive term from the seat, having first won it in 2011 — the election that ended 34 years of Left rule in Bengal. The counting of votes is currently underway.

After the first round of counting, Mamata Banerjee is leading over BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari from the constituency by over 3,500 votes. The constituency carries deep personal significance for Banerjee. Bhabanipur is also a high-profile political battleground this cycle. BJP fielded its star campaigner and Banerjee’s ally-turned-rival, Suvendu Adhikari, directly against her from the constituency.

The TMC chief has set an ambitious target for her party, predicting it will win more than 226 of 294 seats statewide. Her own seat remains the most closely watched.

The 2011 coronation

Mamata Banerjee has had a near-unbroken dominance in Bhabanipur since 2011, with the seat serving as her political fortress through four electoral contests.

Bhabanipur was not Mamata’s original seat in the 2011 general election; she contested from Nandigram. After leading TMC to a historic victory that ended 34 years of Left rule, her aide Subrata Bakshi vacated Bhabanipur for her. She went on to win the ensuing bypoll with nearly 77% of votes and a margin exceeding 54,000 votes — her electoral coronation as an MLA.

2016: A dip but still dominant

In the 2016 general election, her margin narrowed to 25,301 votes against Congress veteran Priyaranjan Dasmunsi’s wife, Deepa Dasmunsi. The reduced margin reflected a more competitive contest, but Bhabanipur remained firmly in TMC’s corner.

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2021: Her greatest Bhabanipur win

After losing Nandigram to her former ally Suvendu Adhikari in the 2021 general elections, Banerjee needed to win a by-election to retain the Chief Ministership. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat for her and she delivered her biggest-ever Bhabanipur win — 58,835 votes over BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal, with a 71.9% vote share. She won every single ward in the constituency.

2026: The toughest test yet

This time, BJP has escalated the stakes significantly by fielding Adhikari directly against her in Bhabanipur. It is the most high-profile direct contest she has faced in the constituency and the result is being treated as a prestige battle for both sides.