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Suvendu Adhikari defeats Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur
In May 2026, the BJP won the Bhabanipur by-election, with Suvendu Adhikari defeating Mamata Banerjee. The party also secured five of Kolkata's 11 assembly seats, highlighting a notable shift in urban West Bengal politics. Turnout reached near 89% amid extensive elector revision and anti-incumbency dynamics.
Why It Matters
The Bhabanipur result, along with Kolkata seat gains, signals potential changes in state-level political dynamics and could influence future electoral strategies in West Bengal.
Timeline
4 Events
May 4, 2026: Bhabanipur result and Kolkata seat wins
May 4, 2026
The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, and the party also bagged five of the 11 Kolkata assembly seats: Kolkata Port, Ballygunge, Chowranghee, Entally and Beleghata. Six seats were considered TMC strongholds: Rashbehari, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala, Kashipur and Belgachia. Notable TMC leaders who lost include Debasish Kumar (MLA and member-mayor-in-council), Shashi Panja (state commerce and industry minister) and Atin Ghosh (deputy mayor of Kolkata). Voter turnout in the second and final phase was about 88.59%. The city had 2.4 million electors before SIR; at least 606,540 names were deleted under SIR, with 67,632 deletions after adjudication.
2024 Lok Sabha polls: South Kolkata and Bhabanipur developments
2024
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Mala Roy of the TMC won the South Kolkata parliamentary seat defeating BJP's Debasree Chaudhuri by a margin of 1,87,231 votes. In Bhabanipur, Roy had a lead of 8,207 votes. The TMC trailed the BJP in four of Bhabanipur's eight civic wards. More than 50,000 names were deleted from Bhabanipur after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Bhabanipur by-election (October 2021)
October 2021
In October 2021 Mamata Banerjee won the Bhabanipur by-election with a margin of 58,832 votes against BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal.
Kolkata Assembly 2021 results
2021
In 2021, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 11 seats in Kolkata. The highest lead came from Ballygunge where Subrata Mukherjee won with a margin of 75,359 votes. The lowest lead was in Jorasanko where Vivek Gupta defeated BJP’s Meena Devi Purohit by a margin of 12,743 votes.