5th phase of Bengal elections: Analysis of how TMC, BJP performed in 2016, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 17: The fifth phase of the West Bengal Elections 2021 taking place today has 45 seats up for grabs. In the 2016 polls, the TMC won 31 of the 45 seats, while the BJP failed to open its account.

Interestingly the TMC's vote share in these seats came down to 41.36 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from 44.6 per cent in 2016. For the BJP the vote share of 9.87 per cent in 2016 rose to 44.75 in 2019.

In 2016 the CPI (M) and Congress won five seats each each. The vote shares of the CPI(M) and Congress stood at 28.07 per cent and 9.87 respectively in 2016. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the vote shares of the CPI(M) and Congress dropped to 7.59 per cent and 2.99 per cent respectively.

In the districts of Darjeeling, the BJP led in all give seats in 2019. In the 2016 assembly polls, two of the five seats were won by the GJM, while the Congress and CPI(M) bagged 2 and 1 seats respectively.

In Jalpaiguri, the TMC won 6 of the 7 seats, while the Congress bagged one. In 2019, the BJP lead in 6 seats and the TMC just in one. The TMC appeared to be doing better in the North 24 Paraganas district where it had won 14 of the 16 seats. It put up a similar performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well.

In East Bardhaman district, the TMC won 7 of the 8 seats in 2016, while in 2019, it led in all the seats. In Nadia district, the TMC won five of the 8 seats, while the Congress and CPI(M) bagged one seat each. In the Lok Sabha polls of 2019, the BJP led in all the 8 seats.