West Bengal election results 2026: 10 key seats to watch as Bengal counts its votes tomorrow
Elections were held in two phases on 23 April and 29 April to elect all 294 members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; The Election Commission has deployed more than 3.5 lakh security personnel across the state, including the National Investigation Agency, for the first time in a state election.
Also Read: West Bengal elections: Ruckus outside counting center in Mamata’s constituency, TMC demands entry of car flying BJP flag
The elections recorded a historic 92.93 percent voter turnout, the highest in the state, surpassing the 2011 elections.
We have compiled for you the 10 electoral districts that will be followed most closely as the counting begins tomorrow.
1. Bhabanipur
The south Kolkata heartland of Bhabanipur has remained a Trinamool Congress stronghold since the party came to power in 2011 and is the constituency from which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also contesting. After losing to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly polls, he returned to the assembly by winning the Bhabanipur general election with 71.9 per cent votes. This time, Mamata will face BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated her in Nandigram in 2021.
During its Special Intensive Revision exercise, the Electoral Commission deleted 47,094 names from the constituency’s electoral rolls and referred more than 14,000 voters to judicial officials for decision.
2. Nandigram
Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district holds a special place in Bengal’s political history as the epicenter of the anti-land acquisition movement during the Left Front regime in 2007. Protests against a proposed chemical center became a turning point that weakened the Left’s three-decade rule and accelerated Mamata Banerjee’s rise to power.
The seat is seen as a referendum on the BJP’s influence in coastal Bengal and the TMC’s ability to maintain support in politically unstable areas. Suvendu Adhikari is pitted against TMC’s Pabitra Kar in Nandigram.
3. Diamond Port
The Election Commission conducted fresh polls at four booths in Diamond Harbor on May 2, 2026, after verifying complaints about opposition candidates’ EVM buttons being blocked. Diamond Harbor is politically important due to its close association with the TMC’s organizational machinery in South Bengal.
A strong TMC performance here will strengthen the party’s claim that its grassroots network remains intact despite a highly polarized campaign.
4. Panihati
Ratna Debnath is contesting on a BJP ticket from Panihati assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district. She is the mother of the victim in the 2024 RG Kar Medical Faculty rape and murder case. Her entry into politics came as part of her quest for justice for her daughter and a focus on improving women’s safety in the state. He is facing TMC’s Tirthankar Ghosh and CPI(M)’s Kalatan Dasgupta.
5. Kharagpur Sadar
Former BJP West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, who is credited with expanding the party’s base in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is contesting from the Kharagpur Sadar assembly seat against TMC’s Pradip Sarkar and CPI(M)’s Madhusudan Roy. Kharagpur Sadar brings together two powerful political figures: Dilip Ghosh of the BJP and Pradip Sarkar of the TMC.
Also Read: EVM tampering, cabinet interference and voter intimidation: Reason for re-polling in West Bengal’s Falta
6. Hingalganj
Rekha Patra, one of the prominent faces of the Sandeshkhali protests, has been fielded by the BJP from the Hingalganj (SC) seat. When Patra fielded as the face of BJP from Basirhat seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he lost to TMC’s Haji Nurul Islam by a margin of over 3.33 lakh. However, the BJP noted that Patra managed to gain leadership against Islam, especially in the Sandeshkhali assembly segment in the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency.
7.Domkal
Former IPS officer Humayun Kabir, once known for his stringent policing and crackdown on organized crime, including the arrest of notorious gangster ‘Hathkata Dilip’, is contesting from Domkal in Murshidabad district on a TMC ticket. Mostafijur of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposes Rahaman.
8. Baharampur
A high-profile contest is underway in Baharampur between Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Indian National Congress and Subrata Maitra of the BJP, who is an MLA. Chowdhury was a five-time MP from Baharampur and served as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He is participating in the parliamentary elections after his defeat in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
9. Samserganj
Samserganj is a Muslim-majority constituency in Murshidabad, where the Congress came second in the 2021 polls with 37 per cent votes against TMC’s 51 per cent. The seat gained national attention in April 2025 following violent protests against the Waqf Act in the region. Central forces were deployed on the orders of the Supreme Court to control the situation in the area where the violence took place.
10. Kolkata Port
Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim is contesting again from the Kolkata Port assembly seat, where the BJP is aggressively trying to target urban dissatisfaction on infrastructure, employment and civic issues.
The tenure of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on May 7, 2026. Counting starts at 8 am.
