West Bengal Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary secured a record-breaking victory in the seat of Diamond Harbour, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Abhijit Das with a margin of over 7 lakh votes. Banerjee broke the record for the highest margin in West Bengal, after former CPI (M) MP Anil Basu won the 2004 Lok Sabha from Arambagh with a margin of 6,82,502.
As per the data by the Election Commission, Banerjee secured 10,48,230 votes in the Diamond Harbour contest with a vote share of 68.48 per cent. On the other hand, Abhijit Das won 337,300 votes with a share of 22.03. Pratik Ur Rahaman from the CPM trailed far behind with 86,953 seats (5.68 per cent). Banerjee has thus recorded the highest margin of victory in the state - 7,10,930 votes - which is unprecedented in West Bengal politics.
TMC candidate and Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha won in Asansol, defeating BJP's SS Ahluwalia. In a major upset, five-time Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury faced a stunning defeat by TMC's surprise candidate Yusuf Pathan. Additionally, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh was defeated by Kirti Jha Azad in Bardhaman-Durgapur seat. Other leaders like Asit Kumar Mal, Sharmila Sarkar, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Khalilur Rahaman won from Bolpur, Bardhaman-Purba, Barasat and Jangipur respectively.
TMC's Partha Bhowmick won from Barrackpore, Pratima Mondal won from Joynagar and Prasun Banerjee won from Howrah BJP leader Nisith Pramanik is trailing in Cooch Behar, but has maintained leads in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, and Darjeeling. TMC's disqualified MP Mahua Moitra is ahead of BJP's Amrita Roy in Krishnanagar. Meanwhile, Congress is leading in Maldaha Dakshin.
With a target of securing 400 seats nationwide, the BJP launched an assertive campaign in Bengal, highlighting issues such as corruption and the recent incident in Sandeshkhali. In the 2019 elections, the BJP displayed an impressive performance in West Bengal, winning 18 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now proclaimed that Bengal will emerge as the top-performing state for his party in this election cycle. Following a lacklustre performance in the state elections, securing only 77 out of 294 seats, the BJP is pinning its hopes on unconventional candidates like former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Sandeshkhali incident survivor Rekha Patra to bolster its support base.
Out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, 30 seats are contested as unreserved, while 10 seats are reserved for SC candidates and two seats are reserved for ST candidates. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC won 22 seats, while the BJP sprung a major surprise, winning 18 seats. The Congress won the remaining two seats. The BJP dramatically increased their seats from only two in 2014 to 18 in 2019. Will the BJP be able to break through in TMC strongholds once again?
