The BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari is leading Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the race for the Bhabanipur constituency after the first hour of counting for the 2026 Bengal Assembly election.
Adhikari, a former close aide of the Trinamool Congress leader, dealt Banerjee a shock in the last election, beating her by fewer than 2,000 votes to claim the iconic Nandigram seat. That forced the Trinamool boss to seek re-election from Bhabanipur to retain her Assembly seat.
In the build-up to this election, Adhikari went after Banerjee again, this time announcing his candidature from the family bastion of Nandigram and Bhabanipur too.
Meanwhile, in the overall picture, at 8.45 am the BJP was pulling ahead of the Trinamool – this after an early period of close running – and was ahead in 45 seats. The Trinamool was leading in 31 and the Congress, which was routed in the last election, was surprisingly ahead in two seats.