Kolkata sits at the centre of India's most fiercely contested Legislative elections as West Bengal gears up for counting day on May 4, 2026.
The City of Joy comprises 11 assembly seats, with the West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee contesting from Bhabanipur.
BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, who famously defeated Mamata in Nandigram in 2021, has been heavily invested to crack open the Kolkata code.
The Left and Congress have largely become irrelevant bystanders, reducing the battle for Kolkata between TMC and BJP.
The 11 assembly seats of Kolkata are: Chowranghee, Entally, Beliaghata, Maniktala, Kashipur-Belgachia, Shyampukur, Jorasanko, Bhabanipur, Rashbehari, Ballygunge, and Kolkata Port.
A comfortable win in Bhabanipur could serve as a strong signal for TMC and Mamata, while a defeat or even a win by a narrow margin, could serve as a shocker.
Kolkata has been on BJP's priority list, where educated, anti-incumbency voters have been left frustrated by the recent school jobs scam and the RG Kar rape-murder case.
