West Bengal exit poll results 2021: Poll predictions for 294 seats to be announced today at 7.30 pm

The much-anticipated exit poll results for West Bengal will be announced at 7.30 pm, an hour after polling for the eighth and final phase ended on Thursday. As per the Election Commission’s norms, exit polls can be published at 7.30 pm today (29 April, Thursday) — an hour after polls close. The counting of votes will take place on Sunday, 2 May. The state saw a three-cornered fight between the Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left-Congress-ISF alliance. While the BJP was considered a marginal player in West Bengal at the time of the previous Assembly election 2016, it has emerged as a strong contender following its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The TMC is seeking to win its third straight term in the state. The West Bengal Assembly has a total of 294 seats. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has exuded confidence that her party will win over 200 seats, while the BJP would not cross the 70-seat mark. However, the party’s poll strategist Prashant Kishor had claimed the BJP’s wins would be limited to 100 constituencies. BJP chief JP Nadda, on his part, has said his party had already crossed the majority mark (148) by the sixth phase of the polling and it would only add more numbers by the time all eight phases have polled. He said people had reposed their faith strongly in the saffron camp. Banerjee has said the EC was acting like a “mouthpiece of the BJP” in the election and she and her party were treated like an opposition camp in the state and this she would not forget. Nadda said Banerjee had run a negative campaign based on false narratives and neither gave a report card on her governance for 10 years nor a roadmap for the way ahead.

Key candidates

Mamata Banerjee: Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is up against party turncoat Suvendu Adhikari, who is competing against her on a BJP ticket from the Nandigram Assembly constituency. Banerjee also faced competition from former student leader and CPM candidate Minakshi Mukherjee. Suvendu Adhikari: The BJP fielded Mamata Banerjee’s protégé-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari against the West Bengal chief minister from the Nandigram Assembly constituency. Adhikari’s candidature was announced on 6 March, months after he joined the BJP in December. Adhikari was earlier a staunch support of Banerjee, notably during the land agitation of Nandigram. He had resigned as the state transport minister in November 2020. Babul Supriyo: The BJP fielded MP and singer Babul Supriyo from the Tollygunge Assembly constituency in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls. Supriyo was given the berth of Union Minister of State, Ministry of Urban Development, and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on 9 November, 2014. In July 2016, his portfolio was changed to Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Srijan Bhattacharya: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded Srijan Bhattacharya from the Singur constituency. The Students’ Federation of India West Bengal secretary contested against TMC’s Becharam Manna and BJP’s Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya in the fourth phase of polls.