Bhabanipur chooses Dada over Didi: Suvendu Adhikari beats Mamata Banerjee, emerges giant slayer again

NEW DELHI: The back and forth at high-stakes Bhabanipur assembly constituency ended up with historic mandate in favour of BJP's heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated chief minister Mamata Banerjee by 15,105 votes.Mamata's defeat in Bhabanipur, considered to be her bastion with deep hold of TMC's cadre, resonates with the larger picture of the West Bengal verdict where the BJP bulldozed the ruling Trinamool's 15-year rule.In what was round two between Mamata vs Suvendu, the trend began with Suvendu leading with thin margin before Mamata took over after round eighth by 15,000 votes.The margin continue to get thinner with passing hour before Suvendu, by around 16 surpassed Mamata by over very thin margin of 500 votes.The seat flipped dramatically after 16th round as Suvendu lead margin widened to over 6000 votes and got much wider by 18 round, crossing the mark of 10,000 votes.Finally, in the 20th round, which is the last round, Suvendu emerged gaint salyer again by defeating Mamata Banerjee.Bhabanipur remained on the edge all throughout the day, with both Mamata and Suvendu reaching the counting centre in a tense face-off. Banerjee reached the Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls’ High School on Lord Sinha Road in the afternoon amid allegations by the Trinamool Congress that one of its counting agents had been forced out of the venue. Adhikari was already present inside the counting centre, adding to the charged atmosphere as the margin tightened. Emerging from the centre, Banerjee launched full-throttle attack, questioning the credibility of the process. “Do you think this is a victory? It is an immoral victory. More than 100 seats have been looted. The Election Commission is the BJP’s commission,” she alleged. Claiming irregularities, she said, “It is loot, loot, loot. We will bounce back,” and added that she had complained to officials, including the Chief Electoral Officer, but “they are not doing anything”. Banerjee also alleged that she was "pushed and berated" inside the counting centre. The tension at the centre was palpable as Mamata exited the venue. She was met by crowds of BJP supporters chanting "Ghotalabaaz Mamata dur hato" (Corrupt Mamata, go away), signalling a fierce anti-incumbency sentiment after 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule. In 2021, Banerjee had contested against Adhikari in his home turf, Nandigram. She lost to the BJP leader by 1,956 votes. Bhabanipur has long been a stronghold for the TMC chief. She has represented the seat as an MLA since 2011 and has not lost an election there. After becoming chief minister in 2011, she secured a decisive bypoll victory from Bhabanipur by 54,213 votes.In 2016, her margin narrowed as she defeated Congress candidate Deepa Dasmunshi, backed by the Left, by 25,301 votes, while the BJP secured 26,299 votes. In 2021, TMC retained Bhabanipur, with Sovandeb Chattopadhyay defeating BJP’s Rudranil Ghosh by 28,719 votes. BJP’s vote share rose to 35.2%, signalling a growing presence. Banerjee later returned to contest the Bhabanipur bypoll, winning by 58,835 votes and securing her third term as CM. The BJP surged past the majority mark on Monday, winning 207 seats which put it firmly in command of the House. What began as early leads quickly hardened into a sweeping mandate, with the party moving within striking distance of a two-thirds majority. The breadth of the BJP’s performance, cutting across regions and voter groups, reflected not just momentum but depth, as it pushed into constituencies long seen as secure turf for the All India Trinamool Congress. In contrast, the Trinamool Congress trailed significantly, managing only a limited number of wins with only 80 seats, indicating a sharp reversal from its dominant position in previous elections.The nature of the surge became clear early in the day itself. The BJP crossed the halfway mark of 148 in the 294-member Assembly well before counting reached its midpoint, signalling not merely a change of guard, but also a structural shift in Bengal's political landscape. The vote share trends reinforce this shift. The BJP’s share has risen to over 45 per cent, up from 38 per cent in 2021, pointing to both consolidation and expansion, while the TMC's dip to nearly 40.94 per cent from 48 per cent in the last assembly polls reflects erosion across segments that anchored its sweep five years ago.