In boost ahead of 2024, TMC wins big in Bengal rural polls

Bengal’s violence-marred rural vote gave Trinamool Congress a massive, morale-boosting mandate on Wednesday, going into next year’s big Lok Sabha battle — all 20 zilla parishads, 317 of the 341 panchayat samitis, and 2,644 of the 3,317 gram panchayats at stake.Second-placed BJP’s tally of six panchayat samitis and 220 gram panchayats accentuated TMC’s dominance in the three-tier elections, which appeared a foregone conclusion as results and trends emerged on the first day of counting.