West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the Trinamool Congress has crossed the 100-seat mark after the first phase of Assembly polling, projecting the record turnout as a sign of voter confidence in her party as the campaign moves towards the next round.Speaking on Saturday, Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress was on course for a two-thirds majority in the 294-member Assembly. The claim came after Thursday’s first phase covered 152 constituencies across 16 districts, with the final turnout revised to about 93.2 per cent, the highest recorded in the state’s Assembly elections since Independence. A simple majority requires 148 seats, while a two-thirds mark would mean 196 seats.
Banerjee’s assertion was aimed at setting the political narrative before the second phase of polling on April 29. She said the turnout reflected enthusiasm for the Trinamool Congress and argued that voters had responded to what she described as attempts to intimidate her party’s workers and supporters. She also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah over remarks made during the campaign and said her party would explore legal action.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has rejected the Trinamool Congress claim, arguing that the high turnout signals anti-incumbency and a strong desire for change. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning in the state, described the voting percentage as evidence that people had turned against what he called the Trinamool Congress’s misrule. The BJP has made law and order, alleged corruption, welfare delivery and border-area politics central to its campaign.
The first phase saw intense polling in several politically sensitive districts, including Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Several constituencies reported turnout above 90 per cent, with some pockets touching the mid-90s. Election officials said the scale of participation was especially significant because the voter list had undergone a major clean-up exercise before polling.
That revision has itself become a campaign issue. The Trinamool Congress has alleged that deletions from the rolls affected sections of its support base, while the BJP has maintained that the exercise was necessary to remove duplicate, shifted, dead and otherwise ineligible entries. The high absolute number of votes cast, despite a reduced electorate in some places, has added uncertainty to how parties interpret the turnout.
West Bengal has a history of high participation, but the latest figures are unusual even by the state’s standards. In 2021, the Trinamool Congress won 213 seats and returned to power for a third consecutive term, while the BJP emerged as the principal opposition with 77 seats. The Congress and the Left failed to win any seat, a result that reshaped opposition politics in the state.
This election is being fought against a changed political backdrop. The Trinamool Congress is defending more than a decade of incumbency, welfare schemes aimed at women and rural households, and its regional identity plank. The BJP is seeking to convert its vote share into a broader Assembly footprint, especially in districts where it performed strongly in earlier Lok Sabha contests. The Congress and the Left are trying to regain relevance in selected pockets where organisational networks still exist.
Banerjee’s “100 seats” claim is not verifiable until counting day, but it reflects the Trinamool Congress strategy of projecting confidence early and preventing the BJP from dominating the interpretation of the turnout. The party is also seeking to consolidate women voters, minorities, rural beneficiaries and local networks that have formed the backbone of its electoral strength.
The BJP’s counter-strategy rests on arguing that a heavy turnout represents silent anger against the ruling party. Its leaders have focused on allegations of violence, corruption, irregularities in recruitment and political control at the local level. They have also attempted to frame the election as a direct contest between the ruling party’s welfare model and the BJP’s promise of administrative change.