India, May 4 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took an early lead in 63 of the 293 assembly seats in West Bengal, while the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was ahead in 37, according to trends around 10am on Monday. In 2021, the TMC swept back to power, winning 215 seats. The BJP bagged 77 seats five years back.

In Kolkata's Bhabanipur, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari was leading by a margin of 1,558 votes after two of the 20 rounds of counting against chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the TMC stronghold. Adhikari defeated Banerjee in the 2021 assembly polls in Nandigram.

The TMC stormed to power in 2011, ending the 34-year Left Front rule. The BJP has made inroads in Bengal since the 2019 Lok Sabha.

The counting of votes started on Monday at...