Kolkata reverses course, BJP leads in 102 of 144 civic constituencies

KOLKATA: A surge in saffron in the Bengal assembly elections saw the BJP elected for the first time in the state and the party leading in 102 of the 144 Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) wards, raising speculations about how long the Trinamool Congress can retain the civic body.The tenure of the current KMC board, which has been controlled by the Trinamool since 2010, will end in December 2026. However, a BJP functionary said the party brass is weighing whether to go ahead with the KMC polls to cash in on the saffron surge in the city. Currently, the KMC has 134 MPs from the Trinamool and only three from the BJP. The remainder were from the MDR Congress or were independents. In the 2021 assembly polls, the Trinamool is leading in 131 constituencies and the BJP is leading in 12 constituencies. Mamata Banerjee’s party continued its winning streak and was re-elected with a huge majority in the KMC polls held in December that year. However, the BJP’s footprint in Kolkata has been growing since then, as evidenced by the 2024 LS polls, which saw the Trinamool leading in 96 wards (down from the 134 wards it won in the 2021 civic elections) and the BJP in 46 wards (up from 3 wards). Kolkata’s 144 constituencies are spread over 17 constituencies. Out of these, the BJP won 10 seats and TMC won 7 seats in the recently concluded polls. In the 2021 assembly elections, all 17 seats in the KMC region went to TMC.