In her first reaction on Monday amid the counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly election 2026, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee requested party candidates and counting agents to not leave the counting centres. Her message comes at a time when the trends till the mid-morning show Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a comfortable position with a lead in nearly 190 seats.

In a video message, Banerjee said, “Do not be sad. Wait and watch. We are with you…I had said you will win after the sun goes down (evening). We will fight.”

Banerjee also alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has stopped counting in over 100 seats, alleging, “This is a conspiracy by the BJP. I have been saying since yesterday that they (EC) will first show results of those areas in the first two to three rounds, where the BJP has an edge, and then show ours later.”

Confident that the TMC still has an edge in 70-100 seats, Banerjee said the BJP is spreading a fake narrative, and the EC is suppressing the news.

In an attack on the BJP, the TMC chief accused the party of using central forces to attack TMC party offices and cadres.

In her own constituency, Banerjee is leading with 13,842 votes against BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari with 38,328 votes.

Meanwhile, Adhikari voiced confidence that his party would form the next government in West Bengal, attributing the outlook to what he described as significant Hindu consolidation, as counting for the 2026 Assembly elections progressed.

“This time, there is Hindu consolidation. The way Muslims used to vote for the Trinamool Congress, they have not done that this time. Some votes have gone to the pro-Muslim party. The BJP has also received some in small amounts. I was not expecting such a good performance in the Muslim booth in Nandigram,” Adhikari, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, said.