BJP sees victory in West Bengal after historic voter turnout
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday sharpened the BJP’s pitch for regime change in West Bengal, claiming that the first phase of polling has sealed a “wave of change” in the state and signalled the beginning of the end of the TMC’s “maha jungle raj”.
“The wave of change that had been visible in Bengal for a long time - yesterday’s first phase of voting has put its seal on it. The support shown yesterday in favour of the BJP has sounded the conch shell of its victory,” PM said. Claiming that the TMC was “rattled” by Thursday’s voter turnout, Modi alleged that the ruling party had activated its “goons” overnight to intimidate voters and BJP workers.
PM Modi addressed back-to-back rallies in Dum Dum’s Panihati and Baruipur in the Jadavpur Lok Sabha segment. While he began his day by a morning walk and then a boat ride on the Hooghly River, in the evening he led a roadshow in the Dum Dum Assembly constituency. The PM also posted a few photographs of his river trip on social media. Nearly 92 per cent of the 3.60 crore electors voted in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls on Thursday.
Referring to the high voter turnout, Home Minister Amit Shah said, “People of Bengal broke all records in the first phase and voted with enthusiasm for a change.”
Claiming that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC’s exit is imminent, Shah said the BJP will form a Government in the state with an absolute majority.
Asserting that people voted with enthusiasm for a change in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Shah said ‘Anga, Banga and Kalinga’, the ancient kingdoms that ruled present-day eastern India, will have BJP Governments next month. Addressing a press conference, Shah said the BJP will bag more than 110 of the 152 seats that went to the polls in the first phase on Thursday.
Having come to power in Odisha in 2024, the BJP is now seeking a third consecutive term in Assam and aiming to unseat the 15-year-old TMC Government in West Bengal. The party’s first chief minister in Bihar, Samrat Choudhary, won a floor test in the Assembly earlier in the day.
TMC eyes big mandate
New Delhi: The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has claimed that it would win by a landslide, following the first phase of polling, which saw nearly 93 per cent turnout, the highest since Independence.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed polling in first phase of the Assembly elections confirmed her party TMC will win with a big mandate. Referring to the first phase of polling, Mamata expressed confidence that TMC’s performance would mirror its 2021 sweep, saying, “The party has crossed a century.”
A TMC spokesperson at a media conference claimed the party was leading in over 125 of the 152 seats that went to the polls on Thursday. BJP has put their party’s estimate at over 110 seats.
