West Bengal will cast its ballots in 7 phases for 2024 Lok Sabha elections starting April 19. The results will be announced on June 4 — ahead of the June 16 deadline for forming a new government, the Election Commission said.
In Lok Sabha elections 2019, the voting was conducted in 7 phases in Bengal.
April 19: Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar
April 26: Darjeeling, Raiganj, Balurghat
May 7: Malda, Murshidabad, Jangipur
May 13: Bardhaman, Berhampore, Durgapur, Ranaghat, Bolpur
May 20: Howrah, Ulluberia, Hoogly, Sreerampur, Barrackpore, Bongaon
May 25: Kanthi, Tamluk, Ghatal, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur, Medinipur and Jhargram
June 1: North and South Kolkata, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Bashirhat, Joynagar and Mathurapur
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee saw a decrease in seats from 30 to 18, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made significant gains, securing 18 seats compared to just two in 2014.
Further, from a 17.02% vote share and two seats in 2014, the saffron party soared to a 40.25% vote share and 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
This marked a notable shift in the state's political landscape, reflecting the BJP's growing influence under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah's leadership.
Further, things don’t look rosy for Mamata Banerjee as opinion polls suggest BJP is likely to win greater number of seats this time. If News18 Mega Opinion Poll 2024 is to be believed, the projections suggest that the BJP, led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, will win 25 out of 42 seats in the state.
However, TMC's Kunal Ghosh said that the party will win about 30 to 35 seats in Bengal.
Nearly 97 crore people are eligible to cast vote in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had won 303 seats in the previous elections while the Congress remained the Opposition ranks with a mere 52 seats. It could not muster enough numbers to claim the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Modi government claims that in Lok Sabha elections 2024, the NDA is likely to win over 400 seats and BJP will win over 370 seats alone.
(With inputs from agencies)
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