As outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost in this year’s Assembly elections, also ending the 15-year rule of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC), security deployment outside the homes of Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee was reduced on Wednesday morning, according to a Hindustan Times report.

The residence of Mamata Banerjee is located at 188A Harish Chatterjee Street, while 121 Kalighat Road serves as the headquarters of the AITC. The office of Abhishek Banerjee is situated at 9 Camac Street.

“Police arrangements outside three premises – 188A Harish Chatterjee, 121 Kalighat Road and 9 Camac Street – have been scaled down from 6:30am on Wednesday. Some of the security arrangements like scissor barricades were replaced by manual guardrails on Tuesday,” HT quoted a police officer as saying.

“Only the Z+ security arrangement will remain. The extra police personnel, who were deployed beyond the Z+ category security, were withdrawn,” said an IPS officer stated, as per the report.

An internal directive to scale down security arrangements was reportedly issued on Tuesday by the Joint Commissioner (Headquarters) of Kolkata Police.

According to police officials, several advanced security measures were withdrawn the same day. This included the removal of scissor barricades that had been installed about 200 metres before Mamata Banerjee’s residence in the Kalighat area. These mechanised barricades, typically used in high-security zones, have now been replaced with standard manual guard rails.

Mamata Banerjee, who was defeated in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, raised concerns over the counting process and claimed that workers of the TMC were assaulted.

She further alleged that she was “manhandled, assaulted and kicked in the belly,” and claimed that CCTV cameras were switched off during the incident.

In contrast, the AITC saw its vote share decline from 48.02% in 2021 to 40.8%, a drop of 7.22 percentage points. This decrease resulted in a steep fall in its seat count, from 215 to just 80.

The data further revealed that the BJP performed strongly in constituencies with voter turnout between 85% and 95%, winning 172 seats in this category, while the TMC managed only 45. In areas where turnout exceeded 95%, the TMC secured 37 seats compared to the BJP’s 28.

West Bengal recorded an average voter turnout of 92.47% in the two-phase elections, its highest since Independence, as per the Election Commission. The nearly 8% rise in the BJP’s vote share compared to 2021 helped it gain around 130 additional seats, leading to a major setback for the TMC.

Following the outcome, the BJP has begun preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of its first government in West Bengal.