High tension marked polling in Bhabanipur as Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari turned the prestige seat into the focal point of the final phase of the West Bengal Assembly election, trading allegations of intimidation, interference and political pressure while voting continued under heavy security across 142 constituencies.Banerjee, contesting from her long-held south Kolkata bastion, visited several polling booths early in the day and alleged that central forces and election observers were acting under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition and BJP candidate, rejected the charge and accused her camp of trying to create fear among voters. The confrontation escalated after both leaders reached the same polling area, bringing television crews, party workers and security personnel into a tense standoff.
Adhikari said Banerjee had the right to inspect booths as a candidate but questioned why she was moving with a large group. He alleged that Trinamool Congress supporters were attempting to intimidate voters and asserted that the “lotus will bloom” in Bhabanipur. Banerjee, who left her Kalighat residence earlier than her usual polling-day routine, alleged that party flags had been removed, local workers were being picked up and outsiders were trying to influence the process.
Polling began at 7am across Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman. More than 3.2 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 1,448 candidates in the second and final phase. The phase covers the political core of south Bengal, where Trinamool Congress built much of its dominance in previous Assembly elections and where the BJP is seeking a decisive breakthrough.
Bhabanipur carries symbolic weight beyond its size. Banerjee won the seat in 2011, 2016 and 2021, making it central to her political identity in Kolkata. Adhikari’s challenge has turned the contest into a rematch of the 2021 Nandigram battle, where he defeated Banerjee after switching from Trinamool Congress to the BJP. That result reshaped Bengal’s political rivalry, giving the BJP a prominent challenger to Banerjee inside the Assembly while allowing Trinamool Congress to retain power with a sweeping majority.
The election is being conducted under an unusually tight security grid. More than 41,000 polling stations are under surveillance, with webcasting and central force deployment across sensitive booths. Officials identified thousands of booths as critical or vulnerable before voting, reflecting the state’s history of poll-day clashes, intimidation complaints and party-level mobilisation around polling centres.
Reports of violence and disruption came from several districts during the early hours. Allegations included assault on a BJP polling agent in Nadia, tension over polling agents in South 24 Parganas, vandalism at local party camps and EVM malfunctions in parts of Howrah and Baranagar. Voting delays triggered anger among voters at some booths, while security personnel intervened in areas where crowds gathered outside polling stations. Trinamool Congress denied BJP allegations of organised attacks by its workers, while the BJP accused the ruling party of using local networks to influence turnout.
The controversy over the electoral roll has added another layer to the contest. The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision was aimed at removing dead, duplicate and ineligible names from the rolls. Trinamool Congress has alleged that the exercise disproportionately affected voters likely to support it, while the BJP has defended the revision as necessary to protect electoral integrity. The poll body has maintained that the process followed established procedures.
Banerjee’s party is seeking a fourth consecutive term in office, relying on welfare schemes, women voters, minority support and its organisational strength across south Bengal. The BJP is banking on anti-incumbency, allegations of corruption, concerns over law and order, and a sharper consolidation of opposition votes in urban and semi-urban seats. The Congress and the Left remain in the contest in several constituencies, though the election’s main axis is firmly between Trinamool Congress and the BJP.