West Bengal Assembly elections 2026: Abhishek Banerjee says BJP will be reduced to ‘less than 50 seats’

Amid the ongoing voting for the second phase of 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee exuded confidence in Mamata Banerjee-led party’s victory and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be reduced to less than 50 seats this time.

Banerjee cast his vote at Mitra Institution polling booth in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency on April 29.

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On being asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim of winning the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 by a huge margin, Banerjee told reporters, “He (Amit Shah) said they would win 200 seats in 2021, but it was the TMC that crossed that mark. They claimed they would secure 30 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal — in reality, TMC won 29. Now they are saying 177. If you go by their own track record, they will fall below 50”.

“Every time they claim a clean sweep for the BJP, but when the results come out, it turns out exactly the opposite,” he added.

#WATCH | West Bengal Elections 2026 | AITC National General Secretary and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee shows his inked finger and a victory sign after casting his vote at a polling booth in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/B6tzXs0vOU

— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2026

Taking a jibe at the BJP-led central government over the deployment of CRPF armoured vehicles for maintaining law and order, Banerjee said, “The INS warships and Rafale are yet to be deployed. Do that too. The thing that you should be doing against Bangladesh and Pakistan, you are doing it against the people of Bengal and call us Bangladeshi. So those who talk about fear and trust, people are watching who are creating an environment of fear and terror in Bengal, and people will answer for it.”

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: AITC National General Secretary and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee says, “The INS warships and Rafale are yet to be deployed. Do that too. The thing that you should be doing against Bangladesh and Pakistan, you are doing it against the people of Bengal… pic.twitter.com/O6VvU5ksF5

— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2026

He further claimed that the BJP will “fall flat on their faces when the results come out” on May 4.

Sticking to his earlier claims, Banerjee said TMC’s vote percentage will increase in the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, adding that the party will form the government for the fourth time “with a bigger majority than 2021.”

Voting underway across 142 seats amid tight security

Voting started on April 29 in 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, amid unprecedented security arrangements.

Polling began at 7 a.m. as voters were seen lined up outside booths across Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and Purba Bardhaman — districts that together form the political and electoral core of West Bengal.

In the first phase, the BJP defended its north Bengal gains, while the final round shifts the battle squarely to the TMC’s strongest belt. In 2021, the ruling party secured 123 of these 142 seats, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF.

The focus remains on Bhabanipur, which is Mamata Banerjee’s political bastion. She is facing Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in a prestige battle being looked upon as a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where he had defeated her in 2021.

A total of 3.21 crore electors, including 1.57 crore women and 792 third-gender voters, are eligible to cast their votes in the second phase. Polling is being conducted across 41,001 stations, all of which are under webcasting surveillance.

For free and fair elections, the Election Commission has deployed 2,321 companies of central forces across seven districts, with Kolkata receiving the highest deployment of 273 companies.

During the first phase on April 23, a 93.19% voter turnout was registered. Counting of votes will take place on May 4.