Vote counting in Bhabanipur, along with 292 other Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, has begun. The stakes are particularly high in Bhabanipur, which has witnessed a fierce electoral contest between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Suvendu Adhikari.
Polling in Bhabanipur was held in the second phase on April 29.
Who is winning Bhabanipur?
Counting begins in Bhabanipur. As per the early trends, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari has taken lead in early trends. TMC's Mamata Banerjee is trailing.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay of the TMC secured victory in Bhabanipur by a margin of 28,719 votes, defeating BJP’s Rudranil Ghosh. He later resigned from the seat to pave the way for Mamata Banerjee, who contested the by-election from here after losing to Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.
Banerjee went on to defeat BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal in a one-sided contest, winning by nearly 60,000 votes.
Since 2011, Bhabanipur has largely remained a stronghold of the TMC. However, the BJP, led by Suvendu Adhikari, mounted an aggressive campaign this time to challenge the party’s dominance, making the contest one of the most closely watched.
Demographic profile of Bhabanipur
Bhabanipur assembly constituency falls within the Kolkata Dakshin district and is part of the Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha segment.
The electorate is socially diverse, with nearly 40 per cent comprising non-Bengali communities such as Gujaratis, Marwaris, Punjabis and Odias. As per PTI, Bengali Hindus account for around 42 per cent of voters, non-Bengali Hindus about 34 per cent, and Muslims close to 24 per cent.
The constituency also includes a notable population of migrants from Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand.
