Kolkata, May 4 (IANS) After the first three hours of counting of votes on Monday for the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, the number of constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates are leading is far more than those where the ruling Trinamool Congress is ahead.

Till 11:30 a.m., the trend for 232 of the 293 Assembly constituencies, where counting is on, is available on the Election Commission website. Till the period, BJP candidates are leading in 147 Assembly constituencies, followed by Trinamool Congress at 82, Left Front -All India Secular Front (AISF) in one and former Trinamool Congress MLA, Humayun Kabir-founded Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) in one.

Kabir himself is leading from the Rejinagar Assembly constituency in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district. As per the trend till 11 a.m., West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, is marginally trailing against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in the high-profile Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata,

Adhikari is also leading from his native Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district, where he is contesting simultaneously this time along with Bhabanipur.

On Monday morning, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, announced that the winning party will be able to take out a victory procession in the districts only after seeking prior permission from the district magistrate and the district electoral officer.

“At the same time, I appeal to all political parties to maintain restraint after the final results are declared officially. In a democratic process, some parties will win, and some parties will lose. But that victory or defeat should not result in violence,” Agarwal said.

This time, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to retain 700 companies of central forces in West Bengal for an indefinite period till further orders to prevent events of post-poll violence, as it happened in 2021.

The repolling in the entire Assembly constituency at Falta in South 24 Parganas district will be on May 21, and the results will be announced on May 24.

–IANS

src/sch/dpb