The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading by a large margin in the initial trends of the vote counting in the West Bengal assembly elections in India.
Opposition leader Subhendu Adhikari has expressed hope that the party will be able to form the government.
According to a report in the Indian media The Indian Express, Subhendu expressed this optimism on Monday (May 4). At the same time, the counting of votes for the assembly elections is underway in five states of the country.
On the other hand, according to the latest information from Anandabazar Patrika, the BJP is leading in about 165 seats in West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress is leading in about 117 seats.
148 seats are needed to form the government in the 294-member assembly. Accordingly, the initial count indicates that the BJP is on the verge of crossing the majority threshold.
However, these are not yet official results; the picture of government formation will be clear only after the final results are announced.