New Delhi:
Mamata Banerjee had declared in March that she would win her Bhabanipur stronghold in the West Bengal Assembly elections, even if it is just by a single vote. She lost her seat to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by 15,114 votes.
Banerjee saw an early commanding lead evaporate as counting progressed on Monday. By the end of the seventh round, she held a lead of more than 17,000 votes. But that advantage was steadily whittled away in subsequent rounds, falling to under 4,000 by the 14th and eventually disappearing entirely.
The seat, long regarded as a Trinamool Congress bastion in south Kolkata, had become a high-stakes prestige contest, with both leaders present at the counting centre.
The result marks the second time Banerjee has been defeated by Adhikari at the ballot box. In 2021, she lost to him in Nandigram by just under 2,000 votes before returning to Bhabanipur via by-election. She has represented the seat in every assembly poll since 2011, barring that contest.
Adhikari claimed that the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains voted for him while the Muslims voted for Banerjee.
“This was very important. Defeating Mamata Banerjee was crucial. This is Mamata Banerjee’s retirement from politics… This time, too, she lost by over 15,000 votes. Muslims voted for her openly. In Ward No 77, all the Muslims who came out to vote voted for Mamata, and Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists blessed me and made me win. This victory is a victory for Hindutva,” Adhikari claimed.
Banerjee opened with a narrow lead of 1,996 votes after the first round, only for Adhikari to edge ahead briefly in the second. She regained momentum in the third round and built a substantial cushion, but the tide turned decisively as later rounds favoured the BJP candidate.
“All the Bengali Hindus voted openly for me. Along with them, Gujaratis, Jains, Marwaris, Purvanchalis, and the Sikh community all voted openly for me… Amit Shah called me two or three times. He also expressed some concern about Bhabanipur. I told him a while ago. I haven’t spoken with anyone else. I wasn’t allowed to use the phone, so I didn’t speak. I’m going to tell him now. He’s waiting. I also need to get the Nandigram certificate,” Adhikari claimed.
“Hats off to the people of Bhabanipur. Their mandate has made it clear what fate awaits an anarchic ruler,” said Home Minister Amit Shah in a social media post.
Hats off to the people of Bhabanipur.
Their mandate has made it clear what fate awaits an anarchic ruler.
ভবানীপুরের মানুষকে কুর্নিশ।
তাদের রায় স্পষ্ট করে দিয়েছে, একজন অরাজক শাসকের ভবিষ্যৎ কী হতে চলেছে।— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 4, 2026
Banerjee had repeatedly highlighted what she described as large-scale deletions from the electoral rolls — claiming 60,000 names were removed in Bhabanipur alone. The constituency, with roughly 2.6 lakh voters, had already seen significant pruning in previous revisions.
The counting venue at Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls’ High School witnessed a charged atmosphere. Banerjee arrived in the afternoon, amid Trinamool claims that one of its counting agents had been removed. Adhikari was already inside. Emerging after the result became clear, a visibly combative Banerjee denounced the outcome. “It is an immoral victory,” she said, alleging widespread irregularities. “More than 100 seats have been looted. It is loot, loot, loot. We will bounce back.”
