West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is so far surging ahead in a bitterly contested battle for Bhabanipur constituency in Bengal.

She is now ahead with 9,974 votes at the end of two rounds of EVM counting, as per media reports. The Election Commission is yet to show the trends on its website.

Bhabanipur in south Kolkata cast votes three days ago in a by-election. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee must win to continue as West Bengal’s chief minister.

Bhabanipur has twice elected Banerjee twice before: this time she is contesting against two BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and the CPM’s Srijib Biswas. Banerjee, in West Bengal assembly elections earlier this year, dropped Bhabanipur to contest from Nandigram in East Midnapore district, but lost to her former confidant-turned-BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by 1,956 votes.

Jangipur and Samserganj seats in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district and Pipli in Odisha are counting votes for by-elections as well._Agencies