37 seats were won by less than a margin of 5000 votes, 8 among them won by less than 1000 votes in the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections

As predicted by the exit polls, the West Bengal assembly elections have proved to be close contest so far. Both BJP and TMC are running neck and neck, with Mamata Banerjee led TMC marginally ahead. It is expected that when the final results are out, a large number of seats will see wins by a narrow margin, due to the close nature of the contest.

In this context, it is worth remembering that during the 2016 assembly elections also, a large number of seats were won by a narrow margin. Out of total 294 seats in the state, as many as 37 seats were won by a margin of less than 5000 votes. Among them, the difference of vote between the winning candidate and the runners up was less than 1000 votes.

Murarai constituency had seen the closest contest, with TMC candidate Abdur Rahaman defeating Congress candidate Ali Mortuza Khan by just 280 votes.

Among the 37 wins by less than 5000 votes, TMC candidates had won in 20 seats. CPI(M) had won 7 seats and Congress had won 5 seats by similarly narrow margins.

Trinamool Congress had won 211 seats in the 2016 elections out of the total 294 seats, winning a comprehensive victory. Congress had come second with 44 seats, and BJP had won only 3 seats. But the trends are completely different this time, and the final results are going to be very close. Although TMC seems to be leading so far, its final tally is going to be significantly less than the last assembly elections, and BJP is going to make a substantial improvement over its tally of just 3 seats in 2016.