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West Bengal panchayat election 2023 results: Litmus test for Mamata, BJP ahead of 2024
West Bengal panchayat election results: A total 5.67 crore people living in rural areas were eligible to decide fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats.
The counting of votes in the violence-affected panchayat elections in West Bengal will be held on Tuesday. This comes a day after repolling was held across 696 polling booths in 19 districts.
In Bengal's politics, violence during elections is nothing new. Till now, 37 people have lost their lives in this year's elections, with 18 killed on the day of polling on Saturday. In the previous election held in 2018, 23 people were killed with 12 fatalities on the day of polling.
ALSO READ: How death shadowed voters during Bengal panchayat polls
On Saturday, there were reports of widespread violence, looting of ballot papers and rigging in more than 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat elections. Both the ruling Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party blamed each other for the violence during voting.
A total 5.67 crore people living in the state's rural areas were eligible to decide the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats of the panchayat system.
West Bengal panchayat election result 2023: How to check vote count, winner
2018 panchayat polls outcome
In the 2018 polls, the Trinamool Congress had won uncontested, 34 per cent of the seats in the panchayat elections. The ruling party has won several seats without contesting this year as well. The opposition had alleged several candidates were stopped from filing nominations by the ruling TMC cadre.
What rural poll results mean for TMC
The panchayat polls were held two years after a high-octane assembly elections which saw the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC secure a third successive win with 213 seats and a vote percentage of 47.9%, which is the second highest vote share for a single party in West Bengal’s history after the Congress’s 49.1% in 1972.
A landslide victory in the rural polls which comprises 65 per cent of the state population will give a major boost to the TMC ahead of the Lok Sabha election next year. In the 2019 polls, the ruling party had won 22 out of 42 seats, facing tough challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party which had clinched 18 seats.
What rural poll results mean for BJP
In the 2021 elections, the BJP had registered its best performance in the state elections with 77 seats and a vote share of 38.1 per cent. In the 2018 panchayat polls, the saffron party had secured the second spot after TMC and made inroads in segments having a significant tribal population. With the Lok Sabha election a year away and Mamata Banerjee being active in forging opposition unity, the BJP faces a tough challenge of repeating the 2019 success in 2024 general elections.
