West Bengal Assembly election: BJP leads in 172 seats, Trinamool in 112

According to trends from votes counted so far (Bangladesh time 11:00 am) in India’s West Bengal Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 172 seats, while the Trinamool Congress is ahead in 112, according to The Indian Express.

In the 294-member assembly, any party needs to win at least 148 seats to form the government.

Voting for all 294 seats took place in two phases on 23 and 29 April. The Election Commission cancelled polling in one seat over allegations of irregularities, and counting is therefore under way today for 293 seats.

The counting began simultaneously at 8:00 am local time today (8:30 am Bangladesh time) across 77 centres set up in 23 districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata.