West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee expressed confidence ahead of the counting day on May 4, saying her party would win more than 200 seats in the 2026 Assembly elections. Dismissing exit poll predictions, most of which gave the BJP more seats than the TMC, she said such predictions were aimed at influencing the stock market.
“The TMC will win at least more than 200 seats if not more,” Mamata said while speaking to the party’s counting agents, urging them not to give importance to the “propaganda and campaigning by the BJP and its allies”.
Two days before the counting, Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting with all TMC counting agents.
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Mamata reminded them of previous exit polls that predicted a loss for TMC as well. The Supreme Open Market Committee said: “Such polls have no value. The opinion polls for 2021 and 2024 were far from reality. I believe that most of these polls are aimed at influencing the stock market.”
Mamata and Abhishek also instructed party members to keep the leadership regularly informed about the situation at the counting centers and remain present there till the entire process is over.
She also said that if any TMC candidate loses a seat “by a margin of 200-300 votes”, counting agents should insist on a recount. “No one should leave the counting centers until the process is over,” the Prime Minister said.
“All unusual activities inside counting centres, such as sudden power outage at counting center in Nandigram in 2021, should be immediately reported to senior party officers,” Abhishek added.
Meanwhile, tension erupted at two vote counting centers in Kolkata late on Thursday evening after TMC leaders alleged lack of transparency and possible malpractice in the strong rooms where sealed electronic voting machines from the April 29 Assembly polls are stored.
