Malda follows Tripura’s lead, bans Bangladeshis from hotels amid growing border tensions
In a near repeat of the 2021 elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has managed to lead in 26 out of 28 assembly seats in Greater Kolkata and nearby areas. However, the party faces significant competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key constituencies.
The TMC trails the BJP by 1,599 votes in Shyampukur and by 7,401 votes in Jorasanko, a seat where the BJP has traditionally enjoyed strong support. Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC is trailing in Jorasanko, a seat previously won by TMC's Vivek Gupta in 2021 by defeating BJP's Meena Devi Purohit by 12,743 votes.
In Bhowanipore, the TMC leads by 8,297 votes, but trails the BJP in five wards: 63, 70, 71, 72, and 74. In Rasbihari, the TMC's lead is a narrow 1,691 votes with BJP leading in four Hindi speaking wards. Speaking on this, MLA Devashish Kumar said "we will think about this, Marwaris and Gujaratis are with Trinamool but in Lok Sabha elections they vote keeping the Centre in mind."
Mweanwhile, the TMC's lead in Rajarhat-Gopalpur is just 74 votes, while the BJP has a significant lead of 11,156 votes in Bidhannagar.