Votes Will Be Counted Only On 293 Seats In Bengal Tomorrow. Here's Why

Oath-taking tomorrow: 4,000 cops deployed, 10 lakh people expected to attend

3 min readKolkataMay 8, 2026 03:48 AM IST

The entire Brigade Ground area has been declared a 'No-Fly Zone'. Private drones are strictly prohibited and police will maintain aerial surveillance. Every high-rise building overlooking the Maidan will be manned by snipers and observers.

The Brigade Parade Ground is being turned into a fortress for the swearing-in ceremony of West Bengal’s first BJP government on Saturday, May 9, with the police expecting a crowd of nearly 10 lakh people. The ceremony, which coincides with the cultural fervor of Rabindra Jayanti, marks a seismic shift in Bengal’s political landscape following the BJP’s landslide victory of 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly.The oath ceremony, scheduled at 10 am, is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and top NDA leaders.

The newly elected BJP MLAs will meet at 4:00 pm on Friday, May 8, to elect their leader, who will be sworn in as Chief Minister. Kolkata Police has sounded a high alert and deployed 4,000 personnel to ensure “zero-error” security. The operations are being personally spearheaded by Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand and under his direction, a multi-tier security ring of Additional Commissioners, Joint Commissioners and DC-level officers will monitor the venue. Additionally, the central forces will be working in tandem with the state police to prevent any post-poll friction during the mega-event.

Traffic restrictions and diversions are also likely around the area on Saturday to avoid congestion, police added. A senior Kolkata police officer said that the over 900-acre ground has been divided into around 30 sectors for effective crowd management and security, adding that each of the 30 sectors will be supervised by a police officer of the rank of deputy commissioner or assistant commissioner.Story continues below this ad The entire Brigade Ground area has been declared a ‘No-Fly Zone’. Private drones are strictly prohibited and police will maintain aerial surveillance. Every high-rise building overlooking the Maidan will be manned by snipers and observers.

“Given that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are the guests of honour, the Special Protection Group will take charge of protection and Kolkata Police and central forces will ensure no untoward incident occurs,” the police said. Senior officers at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, held a high-level meeting on Wednesday to finalise the security blueprint for the event, which is likely to witness a huge gathering. Door-frame metal detectors and handheld scanners will be installed at entry points, while CCTV cameras will monitor the entire venue. “We are making elaborate arrangements to ensure that no prohibited or dangerous items are brought inside the ground. Surveillance will also be carried out from nearby rooftops,” the officer said. BJP’s winning candidate from Rajarhat Gopalpur, Tarunjyoti Tiwari, said the party is preparing for “a massive gathering of 10 to 11 lakh people at Brigade Ground”.

Oath-taking tomorrow: 4,000 cops deployed, 10 lakh people expected to attend

3 min readKolkataMay 8, 2026 03:48 AM IST

DMK minister loses Tiruppattur constituency by 1 vote, Vijays TVK wins seat

2 min readNew DelhiMay 5, 2026 01:52 PM IST

TVK’s Seenivasa Sethupathy R (right) and K.R. Periyakaruppan. (File)Actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won the Tiruppattur constituency in Tamil Nadu Assembly by a razor-thin margin of one vote, snatching the seat from a sitting DMK minister. TVK’s Seenivasa Sethupathy R won the seat with 83,375 votes, beating K.R. Periyakaruppan, the state government’s Minister of Co-operatives.TVK delivered a stellar performance in its electoral debut, winning 108 seats. The ruling DMK was reduced to 74 from 159 seats it had won in 2021 elections. The AIADMK managed to win 47 seats, dropping from 66 it won in 2021. The heaviest blow to the DMK came as Chief Minister M K Stalin lost his seat to the TVK’s VS Babu. Among other setbacks for the DMK are its losses in Chennai, once a symbol of its urban relevance. In 2021, the DMK swept all 16 seats in Chennai. But this time, the TVK swept most of the stronghold, leaving the DMK with only a handful of seats. In its campaign, the TVK has asserted that it ideologically leans to the centre-left and draws inspiration BR Ambedkar, Periyar and Kamaraj, stalwarts of social justice. It has called the BJP its “ideological opponent”, and the DMK its “political adversary” on grounds of dynastic politics. Currently, the TVK’s has a vote share of approximately 32 per cent, which roughly matches that of the DMK alliance. The state witnessed its highest-ever voter turnout for an assembly election with 85.1% casting their votes this year.

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NCP confident Sunetra Pawar will Baramati bypoll by over 2 lakh votes, surpassing Ajit Pawar’s record

As the counting of votes for the Baramati Assembly bypoll is scheduled for May 4, the Nationalist Congress Party is confident that its candidate, Sunetra Pawar, will win by over 2 lakh votes—a victory margin the state has not seen yet.The NCP is also confident that Sunetra Pawar will break her husband’s record margin of victory of 1.65 lakh votes, which he achieved in the 2019 Assembly polls.”We are fully confident that Sunetra Pawar will win by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. And in the process, she will break Ajit Pawar’s record margin of victory,” NCP state president Sunil Tatkare told The Indian Express on Sunday. Sunetra Pawar’s win is a foregone conclusion. ”There are 22 independent candidates in the fray. Hardly anyone was seen campaigning. We believe they will collectively get no more than 5,000-10,000 votes. And there Sunetra Vahani is all set for a record victory,” said a close associate of Pawar. A huge turnout was expected during last month’s voting as a tribute to Ajit Pawar, who died in an air crash in January, necessitating the bypoll. The NCP was expecting above 70 per cent voting. However, Baramati registered only a 58.17 percent turnout. In all, 2.24 lakh voters exercised their franchise. The low turnout was attributed to the extreme heat conditions prevalent throughout Maharashtra in April. Sunetra Pawar was the only candidate from a major political party contesting the Baramati Assembly bypoll. All others, including Karuna Munde, estranged wife of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, were contesting as independents. The independent candidates hardly made any impact; most of them not seen campaigning, said an NCP leader in Baramati. For her part, Sunetra Pawar also did not campaign extensively. She just met people in Baramati city during her regular morning walks. She was present only during the concluding-day rally in the city.Story continues below this ad However, her younger son, Jay Pawar, was at the forefront during the campaign period. Even her elder son, Parth Pawar, was missing from the campaign. An NCP leader said Parth was busy with his Rajya Sabha work. Jay Pawar criss-crossed the length and breadth of the Baramati constituency. NCP sources said he toured more than 100 villages and interacted with villagers. Besides Jay Pawar, at least 10-12 members of the Pawar family campaigned for Sunetra Pawar. This included two of Ajit Pawar’s nephews. One was Rohit Pawar, an MLA of the Opposition NCP (SP), and the other was Yugendra Pawar. Rohit’s parents and Yugendra’s parents also campaigned for Sunetra Pawar. Supriya Sule’s campaign for her sister-in-law Baramati MP Supriya Sule, also from the NCP (SP), was keen to participate in the campaigning. But she had apparently received no call from Sunetra Pawar, sources said. However, Sule attended the election rally on the concluding day of the campaign and appealed to voters to elect her ‘vahani’ (sister-in-law) by a big margin of votes.Story continues below this ad The Pawar family has never lost an election in Baramati, be it to the Assembly or Lok Sabha. Sharad Pawar first won the Baramati Assembly seat in 1967. He has never lost a poll in the constituency. Ajit Pawar’s elections since 1991 Ajit Pawar then took over from him when he contested the Baramati Assembly bypoll in 1991. Contesting on a Congress ticket, Ajit Pawar won the bypoll by a margin of 86,915 votes. He had secured 96,032 votes, and his main opponent BJP candidate K H Khanderao. In 1995, Ajit Pawar won by a huge margin of 77, 335 votes, defeating his nearest rival, an independent candidate. This was again on a Congress ticket. In 1999, after the NCP was formed, Ajit Pawar defeated an independent candidate by a margin of 50,336 votes.Story continues below this ad In 2004, Ajit Pawar won by a margin of 66,157 votes, defeating his nearest Shiv Sena rival. In 2009, he won by a margin of 1,02,927 votes. In 2014, he won by a margin of 89,000 votes by defeating his BJP rival. In 2019, he created a record in

Votes Will Be Counted Only On 293 Seats In Bengal Tomorrow. Here's Why

Oath-taking tomorrow: 4,000 cops deployed, 10 lakh people expected to attend

Oath-taking tomorrow: 4,000 cops deployed, 10 lakh people expected to attend

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DMK minister loses Tiruppattur constituency by 1 vote, Vijays TVK wins seat

NCP confident Sunetra Pawar will Baramati bypoll by over 2 lakh votes, surpassing Ajit Pawar’s record