Result trends not expected before afternoon, says a hopeful BJP

Kolkata: Covid-19 has forced the Bengal BJP brass to go virtual.
The brass held virtual meetings with district office-bearers on Thursday evening over allotting counting agents for 292 assembly constituencies in Bengal. A number of BJP IT cell members, operating from the party’s Hastings office, are down with Covid.
“BJP district leadership and candidates have to select around 50 heads for counting in each constituency.They have to undergo RT-PCR tests and produce the results before entering counting centres. We were busy preparing the list of counting agents for seventh and eighth phases of polls,” said BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu.
Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh didn’t visit the party office on Friday. The leaders are gearing up for the counting on May 2. “I believe counting will take time. We have to wait till afternoon to get the trends because this time, counting of votes will start after a round of random counting of EVMs,” Basu said.
Most exit polls have hinted at a cliffhanger in which fates will be decided by a wafer-thin margin in more than 60 seats. Demands for recounting from either camp can’t be ruled out on May 2. “This was not the situation in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. BJP had faced such a scenario in Malda Dakshin and Arambag Lok Sabha seats,” the state BJP leader said.
BJP leaders still believe the party will form the government in Bengal. They do not agree with pollsters who have predicted a 44% vote share for ruling Trinamool despite “anti-incumbency” and the “soft-Hindutva at work” in 163 rural constituencies of Bengal. “Trinamool’s vote share is not likely to exceed 40% mark,” said Basu.
BJP vote specialists have also done a micro-level assessment of polls held region-wise. The party hopes to do very well in both Midnapores, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram, where elections were held in the first two phases. The party expects to give a solid fight in the third phase though it might trail Mamata Banerjee’s party in South 24 Parganas.
According to BJP, the poll took a turn for “soft Hindutva” after the Sitalkuchi firing in Cooch Behar during the fourth phase. “The trend continued in the fifth and sixth phase where BJP can get some bonus in East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Nadia. It also helped consolidate our support base in Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar,” a BJP IT cell member said. The average to high turnout in all these phases kept the ruling party on tenterhooks.
Going by the logic, things might have taken a turn in seventh and eighth phases, particularly in Kolkata constituencies hit hard by the Covid second wave. For instance, polling was below 50% at Jorasanko in north Kolkata.
Bengal BJP leaders concede it was hard to find a general trend in voting pattern. “However, we are confident of making a breakthrough in East Midnapore, Hooghly, East Burdwan and Howrah and gain a couple of seats from these districts in addition to our performance during Lok sabha polls. More important, we hope to break Trinamool’s monopoly in North and South 24 Parganas,” Basu said.