The 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election was the 18th quinquennial legislative assembly election held in the Indian state of West Bengal on April 23 and April 29 in two phases, to elect 294 MLAs to the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the result declared on Monday, 4 May. The election saw the defeat of the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), led by Mamata Banerjee. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the election in a landslide and formed the government for the first time in the state. It is the first time since 1946 that a right-wing party has won the highest number of seats in the Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Over 9 million voters were removed through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) prior to the elections. This move has been criticized as erosion of democracy in India. The election recorded a historic voter turnout of about 94%, surpassing even the 2011 election, highest ever for a General election for the Parliament or State Legislative Assembly in India. The Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) returned to the assembly after having no seats since the last election. The All India Secular Front also retained its sole constituency, while the newly formed Aam Janata Unnayan Party of Humayun Kabir gained two seats. The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha felt a dip in the elections, losing their lone seat, Kalimpong.
The Election Commission deployed over 350,000 security personnel in this state election, and conducted a largely violence-free election in a state with a history of political violence. There were 85,379 polling booths and about 4.5 lakh polling officers involved in the election. New booths were set up in urban areas in high rises and housing complexes due to allegations of voter intimidation in the previous election.
Many political analysts reported strong anti-incumbency against the 15-year rule of the All India Trinamool Congress, widely known as AITC. Several politicians, blamed AITC misrule, filled with corruption, political violence, and especially cases of violence against women, such as the 2024 Kolkata rape and murder at R. G. Medical college, as the main reasons for the defeat of AITC.
Initially, after the results were declared on 4 May, Mathabhanga Naxalbari had the highest winning margin. However, a full repoll for 21 May was ordered in Falta due to allegations of election malpractice. Results for Falta were declared on 24 May, and the BJP won a landslide victory with the highest margin in the state.
Background
The tenure of West Bengal Legislative Assembly was scheduled to end on 7 May 2026. The previous assembly elections were held in March to April 2021. After the election, the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) formed the state government again after winning 215 out of 294 seats in the assembly, with Mamata Banerjee sworn in as the Chief Minister.
Collapse of Left-Congress alliance
On 5 February 2026, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Mohammad Salim announced that the Left Front will contest all the seats without its ally, Indian National Congress, marking the end of the Left-Congress alliance. This split occurred mainly due to the major defeats in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections and the 2024 Indian general election in West Bengal.
Political issues
The campaign was shaped by disputes over electoral rolls and citizenship, border security and undocumented migration, and broader debates over identity, governance, women's safety, employment, development, and anti-incumbency after 15 years of AITC rule.
SIR and electoral rolls
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls became one of the central controversies of the campaign. The SIR removed around 9 million voter entries from the rolls in West Bengal, representing about 12% of the electorate. Over six million were categorized as absentee or deceased, while the status of 2.7 million remained pending before tribunals. Dalit Hindus, especially from the Matua community, were affected in certain districts. The move was criticised as "bloodless political genocide" and erosion of democracy in India.
In February 2026, the Supreme court told the Calcutta high court to appoint judicial officers for helping West Bengal in carrying out the SIR exercise. It was decided to engage 150 judges from district session courts in the exercise.
The deletion of names from the rolls and the subsequent adjudication process became major political issues during the election period. The AITC said that the exercise risked disenfranchising genuine voters, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defended it as a revision of bogus entries and illegal migrants. The issue remained under judicial scrutiny during the campaign.
Citizenship Amendment Act
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) remained a separate campaign issue, particularly in areas where refugee and Matua politics were significant. The Union government published details of the act's implementation in the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, in March 2024, and BJP leaders said that a BJP government in West Bengal would speed up citizenship processing under the Act. The AITC argued that the issue was being used to polarise the electorate and that the overlap between CAA, SIR and citizenship rhetoric had increased anxiety among minorities and some migrant communities.
Border security and migration
Border security and undocumented migration were also major issues in the campaign. BJP leaders framed cross-border movement, border fencing and the Siliguri Corridor as matters of national security and linked them to their wider argument on infiltration. The AITC rejected these claims as politically motivated and linked them to communal polarisation.
Identity politics
Identity politics remained significant in the campaign. Bengali asmita (identity), the Matua vote, and questions of language, belonging and representation were prominent themes in several regions of the state. The AITC sought to present itself as the defender of Bengali identity and state autonomy, while the BJP tied identity questions to citizenship, migration and Hindu consolidation in selected constituencies.
Corruption
Corruption and governance remained important opposition themes, especially because of the school recruitment scam and other ongoing investigations by central agencies. These allegations formed a major opposition line of attack on the AITC government's record in administration, public recruitment and institutional credibility. The AITC, by contrast, emphasised welfare delivery, continuity and its development record.
Women's safety
Women's safety was a recurring issue in the campaign, especially after the 2024 R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, which drew national attention and remained part of the wider law and order debate. The AITC cited NCRB data showing Kolkata's comparatively low reported crime rate among large cities, while the BJP argued that such data did not capture under-reporting or failures to register cases.
Economy and employment
Employment, industrial development and public recruitment were also prominent issues, particularly among younger and urban voters. Concerns about job creation, delayed recruitment examinations, the effects of the recruitment scandal, and competing claims over investment and industrial growth featured prominently in the campaign. The BJP foregrounded jobs and industrial revival in its criticism of the state government, while the AITC campaigned on welfare schemes and promised continued investment and infrastructure expansion.
Anti-incumbency
Anti-incumbency after 15 years of AITC rule was also noted as a factor in the contest, although it overlapped with disputes over SIR, identity and citizenship. Dissatisfaction over jobs, corruption, governance and law and order was often discussed alongside these issues rather than separately.
Schedule
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election on 15 March 2026.
On consideration of severe electoral offences in Falta Assembly constituency, re-polling happened on 21 May 2026, with results for the seat on 24 May 2026.
Candidates
BJP released the first list of 144 candidates on 16 March 2026; the second list of 111 candidates (also included replacement of a candidate and support to an independent candidate) on 19 March 2026. The third list of BJP candidates was released on 25 March 2026 wherein 19 candidates were named. BJP released the fourth list of candidates on 31 March 2026 announcing 13 candidates and another 1 previously announced candidate was replaced.
AITC+ released their first list of 3 candidates on 15 March 2026, including 3 candidates for BGPM. AITC released their list of 291 candidates on 17 March 2026.
Left Front announced the first list of 192 candidates on 16 March 2026, including 142 seats for CPI(M), 21 seats for AIFB, 14 seats for CPI, 13 seats for RSP, and 1 seat each for RCPI and MFB; the second list of 32 candidates on 19 March 2026, including 28 seats for CPI(M), 3 seats for CPI and 1 seat for RSP; the third list of 15 candidates including 13 seats for CPI(M) and 2 seats for AIFB and the fourth list containing 7 candidates for CPI(M). CPI(ML)L announced the names of their candidates on 10 seats on 17 March 2026.
INC released first list of 284 candidates on 29 March 2026; INC released second list of 9 candidates on 1 April 2026.
Voting
Vote statistics
According to the Election Commission of India, 70,459,284 voters were eligible to vote in the assembly elections in West Bengal. This includes 36,022,642 male, 34,435,260 female, and 1,382 third gender.
As per the Election Commission of India, a total of 9,102,577 voters were removed since October 2025 during the entire program of Special Intensive Revision, shrinking total eligible voters by 11.88% to 67,534,952 compared to 76,637,529 in October 2025. After addition through additional supplementary lists, the final voter count stood at 68,251,008.
The second and final phase of voting across 142 constituencies concluded on 29 April 2026, with the Election Commission deploying over 350,000 security personnel statewide — including the National Investigation Agency for the first time in a state election — amid reports of localised violence in Howrah and Hooghly districts. There were 85,379 polling booths and about 4.5 lakh polling officers involved in the election.
Voting turnout
A huge and historic voter turnout of about 93% was recorded in the state, surpassing the previous record of 84% in 2011 assembly, when the 34 year rule of the Left Front fell to TMC. Over 6.3 crore votes were cast, at least 30 lakh more than the previous assembly and parliamentary elections in 2021 and 2024 respectively, in spite of a decrease of near 11% in voter list. Analysts cite the high voter turnout mainly due to the following possibilities:
- The conduction of SIR in the state before the election, removed about 60 lakh ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate) voter entries leading to reduced total voters and a high turnout.
- Due to high deletion in the voter list, voters have felt importance to cast vote and use their democratic rights. Some, especially Muslims and Bangladeshi refugees, feared if they don't, it may create problems in their future voting rights, further leading to cancellation of other government facilities or even citizenship.
- Media reported high numbers of migrant labours coming from other states for the election. Upon one viral video from Gujarat, TMC accused BJP of breaching Election code by arranging train tickets and foods to migrant voters of Bengal working in other states, who were returning to the state in order to vote.
- Possibilities of potential anti-incumbency like the previous 2011 election and a general trend all over the world during ruling party change in elections. This turned out to be true after the results.
- In urban centres, mainly Kolkata metropolis, the usual low turnout trend changed. One of the main reason of this change was setting up of new booths in high rises and housing complexes. The residents, especially aged persons, felt excitement, ease and comfort in that while avoiding possibilities of poll violence outside. In previous elections, there were cases of such high rises and complexes being locked up by mobs linked to the ruling party TMC, during the elections. Such cases done by the ruling party, had been observed since the left era. TMC continuously opposed setting up of such booths by ECI.
Repoll
After receiving complaints about obstructing EVM buttons of opposition candidates with tapes, bubble gums or inking the BJP candidates' name and symbol by TMC cadre, the ECI took steps to verify these claims. Such cases were also observed in last general election in 2024. After verifying these cases, the ECI decided to do repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies: 11 in Magrahat Paschim and 4 in Diamond Harbour on 2 May 2026. Beside that, due to heavy breaching in election procedures and EVM tampering, the whole assembly constituency of Falta was scheduled to be repolled.
The alleged EVM tampering by done at the directions of TMC candidate Jahangir Khan, and the entire assembly constituency was scheduled for repolling on 21 May, with counting and results on 24 May.
The BJP won a landslide victory in Falta assembly repoll with a margin exceeding 1 Lakh, highest in the state.
Results
The votes were counted and results were announced on 4 May 2026. There were 77 counting centres across the state.
Reactions
Domestic
As soon as trends suggested a victory for the BJP, celebrations were observed all over Bengal by BJP workers. TMC headquarters was observed to be emptying on the other hand.