India, May 4 -- The Lotus blooms in West Bengal, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a declaration of victory in the state as the Bharatiya Janata Party was leading in over 200 seats against Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been in power for three terms.

Election Commission of India began counting votes for assembly elections 2026, shortly after which the BJP took an early lead only to widen the gap against TMC.

After multiple rounds of counting, the BJP was leading or winning in 205 seats, according to ECI data at 6 pm, while the TMC was struggling at a distant second with a leads tally of 82.

PM Modi said on X, "The 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections will be remembered forever. People's power has prevailed and ...