Adding a new twist to the West Bengal assembly election 2021, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was earlier trailing in the prestigious Nandigram seat was now leading by over 2700 votes against her BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari after several rounds of the counting of votes.

 As votes were being counted, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) sailed through the halfway mark pushing past the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a hotly fought electoral contest in West Bengal, setting the stage for a big win in the politically crucial state.

The counting of votes began at 8 am, and after initial leads indicating a neck-and-neck fight, the TMC maintained a comfortable lead. Postal ballots were counted first. But as the day progressed, the TMC surged past the BJP in the race, leaving its challenger far behind.

As of 6 pm, the TMC had crossed the halfway mark in the 294-seat assembly with 156 wins and was ahead in 216 seats, and the BJP in 71 (45 wins). In the keenly-watched Nandigram seat, aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata by 1,622 votes following several flip-flops over the results