Mamata says TMC will cross 200 seats in Bengal polls, accuses BJP of manipulation

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will win more than 200 seats, while accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misleading people with “fictitious” exit polls for financial gains, senior party leaders said.

“Banerjee said that the TMC will win more than 200 seats this time. She also said that exit polls were nothing but an attempt to manipulate the stock market. She accused the BJP of cheating people with fictitious exit polls and earning huge money. They did it in 2021, 2024 and now a senior has said the same thing,” said a senior TMC leader.

The results of the recently held West Bengal Assembly election will be announced on Monday.

“She also said that not a single general observer or police observer (appointed by the Election Commission) will be able to get away. They think that they will be able to run away to their own states after May 4. She warned of legal action against any of them who indulged in anti-constitutional acts. She said that they will be dragged to court,” another leader said at the meeting.

TMC MP and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who also addressed the meeting, said that the party would return to power for the fourth time and win more seats compared to 2021. The party won 213 seats in the last Assembly elections, while the BJP bagged 77 seats.

“I want to put it on record – TMC will get more seats compared to 2021,” a TMC leader said, quoting Abhishek Banerjee.

The TMC chief instructed party workers to guard the vaults and counting centers and not to leave until the winning candidate was handed over the certificate.

On Thursday, a political row erupted when the TMC claimed that unidentified persons were seen in a vault at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in central Kolkata.

TMC leaders staged a sit-in protest outside the facility, where EVMs from seven North Kolkata Assembly constituencies and postal ballots were stored. BJP leaders also reached the spot, leading to a heated confrontation.

Mamata Banerjee also visited a vault at Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls’ High School in south Kolkata, where EVMs of the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency were kept. She stayed there for almost four hours around 9pm on Thursday.

West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal dismissed the allegations in a late-night press conference on Thursday, asserting that the EVMs are safe and secure.

The BJP also held separate workshops in its organizational districts ahead of the counting day. The party’s central and state leaders, including Union minister Bhupendra Yadav and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, addressed the meetings.

“Two days back she said the TMC will win more than 226 seats. Now it has come down to 200. As the counting day approaches, her count is going down. On the counting day, the TMC will be wiped out. TMC workers know very well that the party will not return to power. Because of this, they don’t want to go to the count. warning of legal action against observers just to create pressure on them to act in their favour. This are clear signals that the TMC is going this time,” said senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha.