West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 Phase 2: Over 142 Constituencies Vote as Mamata Banerjee Faces Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur Showdown
Voting for the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 began on Tuesday, April 29, with over 1.68 crore voters eligible to cast their ballots across 142 constituencies spread over seven districts. The phase carries enormous political significance, as it includes the Bhabanipur constituency — a direct contest between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Suvendu Adhikari, widely considered the marquee battle of the entire election cycle.
The Stakes in Bhabanipur
Bhabanipur, in the heart of Kolkata, has been a TMC stronghold since 2011, the year Mamata Banerjee ended 34 years of Left Front rule in the state. She has represented the constituency since then and it is considered her political home turf. For this election, the BJP fielded Suvendu Adhikari — a former TMC heavyweight who switched allegiance in 2021 and subsequently defeated Mamata in the Nandigram constituency by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes.
The rematch between the two in Bhabanipur is being framed as a referendum on Mamata’s leadership. Adhikari has predicted that Mamata will “lose by a margin of 30,000 votes,” while TMC leaders have dismissed this as bluster. On polling day, Mamata Banerjee was seen visiting different locations and party offices in her constituency, and at one point sat outside the Bhabanipur polling booth — a visual that drew both praise from supporters and criticism from the opposition.
Scale and Scope of Phase 2
The second phase covers 142 of Bengal’s 294 assembly seats, with 41,001 polling stations operational across eight districts including Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, and Nadia. A total of 1,448 candidates are in the fray. In the 2021 elections, the TMC won 123 of these 142 seats, the BJP took 18, and the Left secured one.
Voter turnout stood at approximately 40 per cent by 11 AM, according to the Election Commission of India. This is slightly lower than the Phase 1 turnout at the same time, though officials attributed this to isolated rain showers in parts of Kolkata and Howrah in the morning. By mid-afternoon, turnout is expected to pick up significantly.
Key Players Beyond Bhabanipur
While Bhabanipur dominates headlines, several other high-profile contests are underway in Phase 2. Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim is defending his seat, as are state ministers Shashi Panja, Aroop Biswas, and Bratya Basu — all senior TMC figures whose results will indicate the party’s organisational strength in urban Bengal.
One of the most emotionally charged candidatures is that of Ratna Debnath, the BJP’s candidate from Panihati in North 24 Parganas. She is the mother of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2024 — a horrific crime that triggered massive protests across the state and nationally. Her candidacy has brought the issue of women’s safety back into the electoral discourse.
Allegations of EVM Tampering and Violence
The polling day has not been without controversy. The BJP’s national media in-charge, Amit Malviya, alleged that EVM buttons for the BJP were found taped in a polling booth in Falta, a TMC stronghold, and demanded immediate repolling in all affected booths. Visuals of the alleged tampering were shared widely on social media, intensifying an already charged atmosphere.
Separately, chaos erupted outside a polling booth in Howrah where a group of people allegedly attempted to disrupt voting. Two individuals were detained by CRPF personnel. The TMC denied any involvement, while the BJP accused the ruling party of orchestrating booth-level intimidation. The Election Commission deployed central paramilitary forces across sensitive constituencies, with over 800 companies of central forces stationed across the state for both phases.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself accused the BJP of “terrorism” and alleged that the party was using central agencies and forces to intimidate voters. These charges mirror the rhetoric from Phase 1, which was held on April 22 and saw a historic turnout of 92.59 per cent in the first phase — a figure that itself raised questions about potential irregularities, as such numbers are exceptionally rare in modern Indian elections.
What Exit Polls May Reveal
With Phase 2 marking the conclusion of voting, exit polls are scheduled to be released after polling closes at 6 PM. Multiple agencies, including NDTV, India Today-Axis My India, and CVoter, are expected to publish their projections. The results will be declared on May 4, alongside counting for Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry — all of which also held elections in April 2026.
Pre-election surveys have given the TMC a clear edge in Bengal, though the BJP’s campaign has centred aggressively on the BJP’s sweeping victory in Gujarat’s local body elections as evidence of its national momentum. Whether this translates to gains in Bengal, where identity politics, local governance, and the TMC’s deep grassroots network play a far larger role, remains to be seen.
Bengal in a National Context
The Bengal elections are being watched closely not just for their state-level implications but for what they signal about India’s broader political landscape. The TMC’s performance will determine whether regional parties can continue to hold their ground against the BJP’s expanding national footprint. Simultaneously, the elections are a test of electoral integrity amid growing concerns about EVM reliability, voter intimidation, and the role of central forces in state elections — concerns that have been raised in multiple social trends and political developments across the country.
As students across the country also await the CBSE Class 12 results expected by April 30, and amidst rising concerns over law and order incidents across northern India, the Bengal election outcome will be a defining moment for Indian democracy in 2026. The countdown to May 4 has begun.
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