Left Front forges ahead in 132 seats

Kolkata, May 11: Electoral trends after four rounds of counting in West Bengal indicate a red sweep with the Left coalition forging ahead in 132 seats.

As trends started pouring in from across the state following the marathon polls, the Left Front has taken a distinct lead in 132 of the 293 constituencies. The CPI(M) alone is leading in 89 seats, while the other seats are being shared by its Left coalition partners.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other heavyweight Left candidates like Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Power Minister Mrinal Banerjee, Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra, Employment Minister Susanta Ghosh and Forest Minister Jogesh Burman are leading from their respective seats.

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Tollywood matinee idol Tapas Pal is leading in Alipore constituency in Kolkata.

Bucking the trend, Trinamool candidate Javed Khan is leading in the Ballyugunge seat by a margin of 950 votes over his nearest rival and sitting Left Front MLA Rabin Deb.

The AITC-BJP combine is coming a poor second with leads in 24 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) is leading in 17 seats, while the others are ahead in five seats.

UNI