ABP-CVoter Exit Survey: TMC Poised For Thumping Win, BJP Projected To Rank Distant Second In Bengal Panchayat Poll Results

While the SEC agreed to look into the complaints, the results of the ABP-CVoter Exit Poll on the Bengal panchayat election based on Saturday's voting patterns indicated a clear win for the TMC.

The Bengal Panchayat Election ended on a at 5 pm on Saturday, with widespread violence resulting in at least 12 deaths. The Opposition blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress and demanded President's Rule in Bengal or imposition of Section 144 across districts where violence was seen. Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said: "Democracy has been wiped off...we demanded the examination of CCTV visuals and repolling in areas where there was violence and CCTV was not working." His party colleague Agnimitra Paul said that the panchayat polls voting had been "reduced to a joke" by CM Mamata Banerjee and state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha.

Responding to the allegations and demands for repolling in some areas, Bengal State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha promised to look into complaints of vote tampering and to take a decision on possible re-polling after receiving reports from observers and returning officers.

While the SEC agreed to look into the complaints and decide on repolling, the results of the ABP-CVoter Exit Poll on the Bengal panchayat election based on Saturday's voting patterns indicated a clear win for the Trinamool Congress.

The TMC is poised to bag a thumping win, with 606-766 panchayat seats of 928 in its kitty. The BJP, however, is projected to come a distant second, winning between 130 and 228 seats. The Congress-Left combine seems to be out of the race altogether, not crossing even the 100-seat mark in even the most optimistic outcome, according to the exit survey. The alliance was projected to win 41-92 seats.

While the TMC has been predicted to win the highest number of seats in the Hooghly Zilla Parishad region, the BJP's best performance could be in the Purba Medinipur Zilla Parishad area. The Congress-Left Combine may fail to open account in multiple regions.

In terms of vote share, the TMC is likely to get the support of 45% of the eligible voters, while the BJP is projected to get 27%. The Congress-Left alliance may manage to scrape 18% of the total valid votes polled, whiles independents and other smaller parties may get 10% of the votes. However, with reports of multiple polling booths being ransacked and violence in different areas, the SEC may order repolling on several seats.