Kolkata, July 12 : As expected, the ruling Trinamool Congress scripted a thumping victory in all the three tiers of the panchayat system in West Bengal which went to the polls on July 8.

BJP finished a distant second in all the three tiers — zilla parishad, panchayat samiti and gram panchayat. However, what will worry the saffron camp is the massive decline in its vote share as compared to the 2021 Assembly elections.

From 38 per cent in 2021, BJP’s vote share dropped to 22 per cent this time.

On the other hand, despite being in the third position in terms of number of seats, the silver lining for the Congress, Left Front and All India Secular Front (AISF) combine is the significant improvement in vote share as compared to the 2021 Assembly polls. The vote share of the trio has more than doubled this time, from 10 per cent in 2021 to 21 per cent now.