State

Hooghly/Kolkata:In the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Hooghly district emerged as the biggest center of political transformation in the state. Once considered a stronghold of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the voters of Hooghly delivered a powerful political message by electing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates on 16 out of 18 Assembly seats. Meanwhile, the TMC was reduced to just two seats in what was once regarded as its traditional support base. Political analysts believe that the people of Hooghly voted not merely for a change in government, but with expectations of development, employment, education, and better governance. After giving opportunities first to the Left Front government and later to the TMC administration for many years, voters have now handed responsibilit...

Kolkata:West Bengal witnessed a massive political earthquake this time as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had remained in power for nearly 15 years, was reduced to just 80 seats in its own stronghold. The biggest shock came when party chief and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffered a crushing defeat by more than 15,000 votes at the hands of Suvendu Adhikari — a leader who was once considered an ordinary TMC worker in her own political territory. This was not the first occasion when Suvendu Adhikari held up a political mirror to Mamata Banerjee. Earlier, during the 2021 Assembly elections, he had also defeated her from the Nandigram constituency by nearly 2,000 votes. However, at that time, TMC had secured a majority in the state, which prevented her personal defeat from bec...