As the vote counting for the West Bengal panchayat elections continued on Tuesday, the trend at 11 p.m. indicated that the ruling Trinamool Congress was maintaining a significant advantage in all three tiers.
However, a fierce competition between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-Left Front alliance for the second position was observed. According to sources from the State Election Commission, the final results will not be available until Wednesday afternoon or later.
By 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress had secured victories in a considerable number of gram panchayat seats, reaching a total of 36,665 (including uncontested seats).
The BJP emerged victorious in 7,263 seats, while the Congress-Left Front alliance won 4,208 seats (with the Congress winning 1,811 and the Left Front winning 2,397).
Other parties, including the All India Secular Front (AISF) and Independents, achieved victories in 1,732 seats. Additionally, there were 744 seats where a tie occurred, and the winner would be determined through a coin toss at a later stage.
The gram panchayat represents the lowest tier in the state's three-tier panchayat system.
Regarding the panchayat samiti, the second tier, the Trinamool Congress secured 2,319 seats, followed by the BJP with 109 seats, the Left Front with 39 seats, the Congress with 36 seats, and other parties with 2 seats.
For the highest tier, the zilla parishad, the trend was available for only 82 seats by 11 p.m., with the Trinamool Congress leading or winning in 81 seats, and the BJP leading in one seat.
Polling was held on July 8 in over 61,000 booths, with a voter turnout of 80.71 per cent. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people of West Bengal for the TMC's huge win in the panchayat elections.
Abhishek Banerjee, the national General Secretary of the Trinamool Congress, ridiculed Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, for his call to "Not vote for Mamata" in the lead-up to the rural civic body polls.
Banerjee stated, "The slogan 'No Vote to Mamata' has transformed into 'Now vote for Mamata'."
