Trends in West Bengal point to a sweep by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress-led alliance in the 294-seat Assembly. At 11am Mamata's alliance was ahead in 217 seats with the Left Front leading in 67 seats.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who is contesting from Jadavpur, was on top of the list of ministers who were trailing in their respective constituencies.
The trends are in line with expectations that in this election Bengal would see an end to 34 years of Left Front rule, a world record for any elected communist government.
The trend triggered early morning jubiliation in the streets of Kolkata and in front of the house of Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Harish Chatterjee Street in south Kolkata.
The air was green with gulal as Trinamool supporters used their party colour liberally to express their jubilation.
The extent of the sweep could be gauged from the fact that Trinamool Congress was in a position to comfortably notch up 148 seats, the magic figure in the Assembly.
Among the important members of the state cabinet who were behind the opposition candidates were chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, industry minister Nirupam Sen, finance minister Asim Dasgupta, information technology minister Debesh Das, labour minister Anadi Sahu, housing development minister Gautam Deb, transport minister Ranjit Kundu, PWD minister Kshiti Goswami, urban development minister Ashok Bhattacharya, health minister Suryakanta Mishra, paschimanchal Unnayan minister Sushanta Ghosh.
Among important Congress-Trinamool Congress candidates who are leading are Partha Chattapadhyay, leader of the opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Sovan Chatterjee, mayor of Kolkata, Trinamool Congress candidate, Abhijit Mukherjee, Congress candidate and Pranab Mukherjee's son, Amit Mitra, Trinamool candidate and Ficci secretary general, Manich Gupta former chief secretary who is contesting against Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Among the few ministers who are leading are land minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah, panchayat minister Anisur Rehman and technical education minister Chakradhar Meikap.
The Trinamool Congress sweep seemed to affect even north Bengal and districts such as Burdwan regarded as the pinnacle of Left's achievements in Bengal.
In the outgoing assembly the Left Front had a four-fifths majority when it won 235 seats out of the 294-seats.
Among important Congress-Trinamool Congress candidates who are leading are Partha Chattapadhyay, leader of the opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Sovan Chatterjee, mayor of Kolkata, Trinamool Congress candidate, Abhijit Mukherjee, Congress candidate and Pranab Mukherjee's son, Amit Mitra, Trinamool candidate and Ficci secretary general, Manich Gupta former chief secretary who is contesting against Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Among the few ministers who are leading are land minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah, panchayat minister Anisur Rehman and technical education minister Chakradhar Meikap.
The Trinamool Congress sweep seemed to affect even north Bengal and districts such as Burdwan regarded as the pinnacle of Left's achievements in Bengal.
In the outgoing assembly the Left Front had a four-fifths majority when it won 235 seats out of the 294-seats.