2023 West Bengal local elections

Panchayat elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in July 2023.^[2] It was held by the West Bengal State Election Commission. The results were announced on 11 July 2023.

2023 West Bengal Panchayat elections

← 2018 8 July 2023 2028 →
63,229 Gram Panchayat 9,730 Panchayat Samiti 928 Zilla Parishad
Turnout	80.71% (1.46 pp)[1]
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Mamata Banerjee Sukanta Majumdar Mohammed Salim Party AITC BJP CPI(M) Leader since 5 June 2021 20 September 2021 16 March 2022 Popular vote 51% 23% 14% Swing 21% 10% 8% Gram Panchayat 44,105 9,990 3,242 Panchayat Samiti 7,855 1,074 196 Zilla Parishad 879 31 2   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Nawsad Siddique Party INC ISF Leader since 20 September 2021 21 January 2021 Popular vote 7% 2% Swing 2% New Gram Panchayat 2,680 543 Panchayat Samiti 293 0 Zilla Parishad 14 1

Schedule

The election schedule was announced by the State Election Commission of West Bengal on 8 June 2023.^[3]

Poll Event	Schedule
Notification Date	9 June 2023
Last Date for filing nomination	15 June 2023
Last Date for Withdrawal of nomination	20 June 2023
Date of Poll	8 July 2023
Date of Counting of Votes	11 July 2023

Parties and alliances

Party			Symbol	Alliance
	Trinamool Congress	AITC
	Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI(M)		Sanjukta Morcha
	Indian National Congress	INC
	All India Forward Bloc	AIFB
	Revolutionary Socialist Party	RSP
	Communist Party of India	CPI
	Indian Secular Front	ISF
	Nationalist Congress Party	NCP
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation	CPI(ML)L
	Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)	SUCI(C)

Turnout

80.71 percent of the total voters exercised their franchise in the three-tier panchayat elections, according to the West Bengal State Election Commission.^[4] The re-poll in 600 booths where voting had to be suspended due to violence is scheduled to be held on 10 July 2023.^[4]

Violence

Main article: 2023 West Bengal local elections violence

Between 8 June and 16 July 2023 a total of 55 people died due to panchayat poll violence in the state.

On 8 July 2023, 12 persons died due to election-day violence. On 9 July 2023, six more deaths were reported,^[4] increasing the death toll to 18 on the election day. The dead included 10 Trinamool Congress supporters, four from the Indian National Congress, two from the Bharatiya Janata Party and two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).^[4]

On 11 July 2023, result day late night in Bhangar, South 24 parganas there were gunshots and huge bombings killing 3.

"Murder of democracy in West Bengal under the TMC govt. Over 60 dead & 100s injured in the local body elections. Strongly condemn. Strengthen popular resistance to save democracy in Bengal & in India," said Sitaram Yechury, National Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), condemning the alleged rigging in elections by the ruling party.

Results

Partywise

Vote share by Party

1. AITC (51.0%)
2. BJP (23.0%)
3. LF (14.0%)
4. INC (7.00%)
5. ISF (1.00%)
6. Others (4.00%)

Vote share by Alliance

1. AITC (51.0%)
2. Sanjukta Morcha^[a] (23.0%)
3. BJP (22.9%)
4. Others (4.00%)

Political parties		Popular votes	% of votes	Gram Panchayat	Panchayat Samiti	Zilla Parishad
	Trinamool Congress	20,942,380	51.14%	35,606	6,560	877
	Sanjukta Morcha[a]	9,565,359	23.02%	6,822	459	17
	Bharatiya Janata Party	9,467,540	22.92%	9,990	1,044	31
	Others	1,081,673	2.84%	2,972	301	1

Zilla Parishad wise

Corporation Election Data Published by State Election Commission of West Bengal^[5]

No.	Zilla Parishad	Total Seats
			AITC	BJP	Sanjukta Morcha			Others
					CPI(M)	INC	ISF
1	Cooch Behar	34	32	2	0			0
2	Alipurduar	18	18	0	0			0
3	Jalpaiguri	24	24	0	0			0
4	Uttar Dinajpur	26	23	0	0	3	0	0
5	Dakshin Dinajpur	21	21	0	0			0
6	Malda	43	34	4	0	5	0	0
7	Murshidabad	78	71	0	2	5	0	0
8	Nadia	52	46	6	0			0
9	North 24 Parganas	66	66	0	0			0
10	South 24 Parganas	85	84	0	0	0	1	0
11	Howrah	42	42	0	0			0
12	Hooghly	53	51	2	0			0
13	Purba Bardhaman	66	66	0	0			0
14	Paschim Bardhaman	18	18	0	0			0
15	Birbhum	52	51	0	0	1	0	0
16	Purba Medinipur	70	56	14	0			0
17	Paschim Medinipur	60	60	0	0			0
18	Jhargram	19	19	0	0			0
19	Purulia	45	42	2	0			1
20	Bankura	56	55	1	0			0
Total		928	879	31	2	14	1	1

Analysis

The Trinamool Congress won a landslide victory in the panchayat election, winning 100 per cent of Zilla Parishads, 92 per cent Panchayat Samitis and 80 per cent Gram Panchayats.^[6][7]

The Bharatiya Janata Party secured a second position in these polls and performed well in North Bengal.^[8]

The Sanjukta Morcha alliance came third in these local bodies elections.^[9] The ISF especially performed well in the areas where it contested, winning almost 50% of the seats contested.^[10] The Left Front and INC also performed well in the Muslim-dominated Malda division.^[9] Most notably Left Front pushed Bharatiya Janata Party to third spot in the Burdwan division after a long time since 2016.

Notes

1. inc. Left Front, INC, ISF, SUCI(C), NCP and CPI (ML)