West Bengal Panchayat Polls Results 2023: TMC Wins 8,232 Seats, BJP, Others Far Behind

The counting of votes for the West Bengal Panchayat polls began on Tuesday morning amid tight security.

The poll results are seen as a litmus test for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Trinamool Congress has secured a win on 8,232 seats whereas BJP is a distant second after claiming 1,714 seats.

After days of sporadic violence across the state, re-polling was held in 696 booths in 19 districts of Bengal on Monday.

"There are around 339 counting venues spread across 22 districts. The counting, which began at 8 am, is likely to continue for the next two days. It will take time for the ballots to be counted and the results to be compiled. We are hopeful that a trend will be available by the end of the day," an SEC official said.

All the counting venues are guarded by armed state police personnel and central forces, with prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC being imposed outside the venue to avoid any untoward incidents.

Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places. Of those killed, 11 were affiliated with the TMC.

The total death toll in the state since the poll process began on June 8, when the dates were announced, has crossed 30. A voter turnout of 80.71 per cent was recorded on Saturday, whereas a vote percentage of 69.85 was recorded till 5 pm in 696 booths across West Bengal, where repolling was held on Monday.

In the 2018 rural polls, the ruling TMC had emerged victorious in 90 per cent of the panchayat seats and in all the 22 zilla parishads. The elections were marred by widespread violence, with the opposition alleging they were prevented from filing nominations in several seats.