40% of winning candidates in Bengal polls secured less than 50% vote share: ADR report

The report said the winners represented, on an average, 47.20% of the total registered electorate, up from 41.29% in the 2021 Assembly elections.

New Delhi: Around 40 per cent of winning candidates in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections secured victory with less than 50 per cent of votes polled in their constituencies, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and West Bengal Election Watch.

The report analysed results from 293 of the 294 constituencies, excluding Falta. It said voter turnout in the election stood at 93.7 per cent, significantly higher than 82.3 per cent recorded in the 2021 Assembly polls.

According to the findings, winning candidates secured an average of 50.43 per cent of the total votes polled, marginally higher than the 50.16 per cent average recorded in the 2021 elections. A total of 175 candidates (60 per cent) won with more than 50 per cent of the votes polled in their constituencies, while 118 (40 per cent) won with less than half of the votes.

The report said the winners represented, on an average, 47.20 per cent of the total registered electorate, up from 41.29 per cent in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The ADR's analysis also examined the relationship between electoral performance and candidates' backgrounds.

Among the 191 winners with declared criminal cases, 121 (63 per cent) registered victory with a vote share of 50 per cent and above and 107 of these candidates won against runners-up with clean backgrounds. In comparison, 51 of the 102 winners with clean backgrounds won against runners-up with declared criminal cases.

Similarly, 62 out of 179 crorepati winners won against non-crorepati runners-up.

The report highlighted that five winners registered victory margins of less than 1,000 votes, underlining closely fought contests in some constituencies, while only three winners won by margins exceeding 40 per cent votes.

The report also analysed the performance of women candidates. Of the 293 winners studied, 37 were women, all of whom secured more than 35 per cent vote share.

BJP's Sikha Chatterjee from Dabgram-Fulbari emerged with the highest vote share among women winners with 66 per cent, and a 39 per cent victory margin.

Among 102 re-elected MLAs, none won with less than 30 per cent vote share, while 64 (63 per cent) secured over 50 per cent vote share. However, 35 re-elected candidates won by margins of less than 10 per cent.

On the use of the None of the Above (NOTA) option, the report said 4,94,932 votes -- 0.78 per cent of the total 6.37 crore votes polled --” were cast for NOTA in the 2026 Assembly election.

The West Bengal Assembly election results were declared on May 4.