Mamata Banerjee’s incumbent Trinamool Congress registered a resounding victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, as counting wrapped up on Thursday. The election commission declared that the TMC won 211 seats out of 294. The Left-Congress alliance managed just about 75 seats, with Congress winning 44 of them.

Exit polls had predicted a clear majority for the incumbent party, though it was shaken by the Narada News sting operation, which allegedly showed its leaders accepting bribes, as well as the Sarada scam, a ponzy scheme that led to crores of losses. The Communist Party of India pinned its hopes on an awkward alliance with the Congress, but the strategy failed them.

Here's how the day unfolded:

2.31 pm: Mamata Banerjee won from the Bhawanipur constituency after a fairly tough fight from Chandra Bose, the nephew of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose.

1.57 pm: Subhendu Adhikari wins the Nandigram constituency by a whopping 81,230 votes. Nandigram is where the Left cadre had unleashed violence in 2007 to acquire farmland, leading to the area becoming virulently anti-CPI(M) and pro-Trinamool.

12.30 pm: On looking ahead:

12.26 pm: Mamata Banerjee will begin her second term as West Bengal's chief minister after taking her oath on May 27.

12.02 pm: Watch Mamata Banerjee's victory speech live.

11.59 am: Surjyakanta Mishra, the CPI(M)-Congress chief ministerial candidate is lagging behind in his constituency of Narayangarh in West Midnapore district.

11.56 am: TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is addressing a press conference. "The Opposition tried to cause violence... but democracy has won," she says.

11.29 am: The TMC has recorded its first official wins, according to the Election Commission.

11.01 am: Here are the official leads in 293 of the state's 294 constituencies.

10.50 pm: Mamata Banerjee is leading the Bhawanipur seat by a margin of 3,160 votes. Chandra Bose, contesting for the BJP is in second place. Bose had earlier closed the gap to just 158 votes, and was within sniffing distance of a major upset. Didi, however, appears to have pulled ahead again.

10.29 am: The TMC officially leads in 201 seats, according to the Election Commission. The CPI(M)-Congress alliance still holds on to just 59, while the BJP leads in five seats.

10.15 am: The Election Commission reports that the TMC now leads in 190 seats, the Left-Congress alliance has 59 seats. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has a small lead of 1,499 votes in her constituency of Bhawanipore. Earlier reports had predicted a tough fight for the chief minister in her own seat.

9.56 am: Here are some official stats:

9.36 am: ...And the halfway point has been breached. TMC is at 155, seven ahead of the 148 they needed for a majority, according to NDTV. News18, which has been ahead of the curve all day, has them placed at 199 seats.

9.34 am: The TMC is inching closer to that majority mark.

9.20 am: News18 is already putting TMC beyond the halfway mark, ahead at 175 seats.

9.15 am: According to News18, TMC leads in 145 seats, just three short of the halfway mark. NDTV, meanwhile, pegs them at 77 and the Left alliance at 21. At this point the TMC is just breezing ahead.

9.13 am: According to ABP News, Finance Minister Amit Mitra is leading from the Khardah constituency, while Power Minister Manish Gupta is trailing against the CPM alliance candidate Sujan Chakraborty.

9.10 am: The official leads from the Election Commission confirm that the TMC is indeed ahead, with 16 from the TMC, 5 from the Left-Congress alliance and 1 for the BJP.

9.07 am: Here's another look at the early leads:

8.48 am: According to News18's early trends, the TMC is surging ahead in 107 seats while the Left-Congress alliance is ahead in 37 seats, and the BJP in three. NDTV reports a more conservative estimate at 39 for the TMC, seven for the Left-Congress alliance and three for the BJP.

8.41 am: Early leads in the state:

8.38 am: Cautious readings from parts of the state are putting the TMC at five leads, and the BJP maintains its one.

8.30 am: According to NDTV, TMC has three leads and the BJP has one.

8.22 am: Leaders are yet to arrive at the party offices all over the state. Supporters have started trickling into Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kolkata's Kalighat.

8.17 am: As reports come in of early leads, the Trinamool Congress seems to have the edge already. However, official figures on this are not out yet. According to NDTV, the TMC leads in three seats.

8.07 am: Clashes have already been reported between TMC and CPI(M) workers in Bardhaman district's Bhatar. The TMC cadres allegedly vandalised the houses of CPI(M) workers, The Hindu reported.

8 am: The counting of the votes has begun. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's strategist Mukul Roy was seen visiting her at her residence early this morning.

Background

With 1,961 candidates contesting the 294 seats, the polls were conducted on a massive scale over six phases in West Bengal. There was tight security at the polling booths, especially in the Maoist belts. The Bharatiya Janata Party attempted to step up its presence in a state where it has not had much success in the past. Violence was reported from several parts of the state, the Election Commission ordered action against a TMC leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party scuffled with local politicians and a Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker died in a crude bomb blast.