Record voter turnout fires up both TMC & BJP camps

Kolkata/Lucknow: Bengal's record turnout left both Trinamool and BJP claiming the mandate on Wednesday, with CM Mamata Banerjee predicting a two-thirds majority for Trinamool and PM Narendra Modi expressing confidence that BJP will form govt in the state for the first time.

A Trinamool senior said the party is internally projecting a tally north of 230 seats, claiming that it will win even Nandigram. A Trinamool MP attributed the surge to accumulated anger over the SIR deletions.



"The relentless branding of voters as Bangladeshis and the torture of SIR has backfired big time. This is completely a vote of anger. The outsider-versus-Bengali identity war was a central issue, and the viral video of IPS officer Ajay Pal threatening women in Hindi may have gained some likes for BJP but created a massive negative perception on the ground," the MP said. The party also credited its effective mobilisation of women voters and migrant workers in constituencies where Trinamool was on "a sticky wicket."

Modi, speaking while inaugurating the Ganga Expressway in UP's Hardoi, described the high turnout in the second phase across 142 constituencies as proof that elections had been conducted in an atmosphere "devoid of fear" and praised voters for their "awareness of democratic rights."

TMC was dismissive of exit polls. MP Mahua Moitra pointed out on X that all exit polls ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections had predicted 350-plus seats for the NDA — and BJP ended up with 240. "Exactly the same thing will happen on May 4," she wrote.

Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said exit polls could not be relied upon entirely but expressed confidence in the result. "We have seen consolidation across districts. Exit polls had earlier shown BJP losing in Haryana, Delhi and Bihar. We are confident that change has happened in Bengal," he said.

CPM state secretary Md Salim said the record turnout was partly a statistical effect of dead and bogus voters being removed from the rolls. He also noted that lakhs of eligible voters had still been unable to cast ballots. "Migrant workers had to come back. There were many who voted for the first time in 10 to 15 years," he said.
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