When the counting for the assembly elections in four states and a Union Territory begins at 8 am on Monday, West Bengal will be one of the most watched state.
While Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is eyeing a fourth consecutive term, the BJP is posed to give a tough fight to form the government for the first time.
West Bengal has 294 Assembly constituencies and 148 is the number needed to form the government. Most seats are predicted to see a close contest.
However, poll contests point at 37 "bellwether seats" which may help determine the winner. These seats have been the key since 1977 elections. Whichever party has won the majority of these seats has gone on to form the West Bengal government.
These 37 seats are about 13 per cent of the total 294 constituencies. They are spread across the state and include all types of seats - general, Scheduled Caste (SC), and Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Out of these seats, about 15 to 20 per cent of these seats are located in areas like central Kolkata, south Bengal, and southwest Bengal.
Constituencies such as Bhawanipur, Diamond Harbour, Ausgram, Uday Narayanpur, and Magrahat East have often been with the state government.
This is a unique trend in West Bengal. Other states like Uttar Pradesh have just one such seat with a perfect record; Bihar and Maharashtra have none; Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have 3 each; Odisha and Gujarat have 5 each, while West Bengal alone has 37.
For almost 50 years, the state has been ruled by only two parties, including the Left Front for 34 years and then the Trinamool Congress.
People in these 37 seats are known to vote for the government in power since it did not change often. The people in the 37 seats have mostly voted for the most popular party across the state. These seats have now become a strong indicator for the overall results.