Nail-biting finishes in Bengal as 18 seats decided by under 5,000 votes

MP, May 7, 2026, Kolkata: A close analysis of the results of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections has revealed a string of photo-finish contests, with at least 18 constituencies decided by margins of fewer than 5,000 votes.

Another 20 constituencies recorded victory margins between 5,000 and 10,000 votes, underlining a tightly fought election where small swings in voter preference proved decisive.

The BJP dominated the closest contests, winning 11 of the 18 seats, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured six and the Congress one.

The narrowest margin was recorded in Rajarhat New Town, where BJP’s Pijush Kanodia defeated TMC’s Tapas Chatterjee by just 316 votes.

Margins fell below 1,000 votes in four constituencies — Satgachia, Raina, Jangipara and Indus — highlighting the intensity of the contests. BJP candidates won all four seats.

Agnishwar Naskar defeated TMC’s Somasree Betal by 401 votes in Satgachia, while Mandira Dolui beat TMC’s Subhash Patra by 834 votes in Raina.

In Jangipara, Prosenjit Bag edged past former Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty by 862 votes, and Nirmal Kumar Dhara defeated Shyamali Roy Bagdi by 900 votes in Indus.

Several other constituencies also witnessed close finishes.

In Pandeshwar, BJP’s Jitendra Tewari defeated TMC’s Narendranath Chakraborty by 1,398 votes, while in Cossipore-Belgachia, BJP’s Ritesh Tewari beat TMC’s Atin Ghosh by 1,651 votes.

TMC’s Biplab Mitra won Harirampur by 1,986 votes against BJP’s Debabrata Majumdar, and Joydeb Halder retained Mandirbazar for the TMC by defeating BJP’s Mallika Pyne by 1,995 votes.

In Madhyamgram, TMC’s Rathin Ghosh defeated BJP’s Anindya Banerjee by 2,399 votes.

Other close victories included TMC’s Mohammad Kasem Siddique winning Amdanga by 2,995 votes and Sangita Roy retaining Sitai by 2,721 votes.

BJP’s Amit Samanta won Amta by 4,454 votes, while Dipankar Jana defeated four-time TMC MLA Manturam Pakhira in Kakdwip by 4,760 votes.

BJP’s Debasis Ojha won Labpur by 3,550 votes and Chiran Bera secured Uluberia Uttar by 4,177 votes.

The saffron party also won Champdani and Haripal in Hooghly district by margins of 3,026 and 3,488 votes, respectively.

The Congress’s lone victory in this category came from Raninagar, where Julfikar Ali defeated TMC’s Abdul Soumik Mondal by 2,701 votes.

A few contests marginally crossed the 5,000-vote mark but still remained closely watched.

In Hingalganj, BJP’s Rekha Patra won by 5,421 votes, while senior TMC leader Madan Mitra retained Kamarhati by 5,646 votes.