Barely three hours after the counting for the Bhowanipore bypoll started, a Sikh man in his 60s was distributing sweets and playing with green abir at the Chakraberia crossing around noon on Sunday.

He had started celebrating the victory of Mamata Banerjee from the seat, though the official results would come later.

“We are confident that Didi is going to win, which is why we had ordered sweets, singaras and flower petals yesterday to celebrate the victory. We are only keen to know the margin of victory,” said Ajit Singh, a resident of Puddapukur Road.

Long before the results were officially declared, Bhowanipore had started to celebrate Mamata’s victory.

About 50 Trinamul supporters — mostly Sikh men — were smearing each other with abir, distributing sweets and dancing to the beat of drums.

Chakraberia was, however, not the only place where Trinamul supporters had assembled early. A large group had gathered at Jadu Babur Bazar, near transport minister Firhad Hakim’s home in Chetla and at the crossing of Harish Chatterjee Street and Hazra Road, which leads to Mamata’s home.

The supporters had kept an eye on the results after every round of counting, which began at Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School on Lord Sinha Road at 9am.

At the end of the first round, Mamata was leading by 2,799 votes. By the end of round 10, the lead was 31,645. Altogether, there were 21 rounds.

Known for its cosmopolitan character, Bhowanipore has Bengalis, Gujaratis, Sikhs and Marwaris among the voters, a sizeable number of whom are Muslims.

By 2pm, rallies from all across the constituency started to arrive near Mamata’s home on Harish Chatterjee Street. Mamata’s nephew and Trinamul MP Abhishek Banerjee arrived at her home, left and returned in the afternoon. Every time Abhishek’s car got out of Harish Chatterjee Street, the supporters swarmed around it. The police had a tough time creating a passage for the car through the crowd.

Amid the celebrations, a couple of men came and checked the change in lead from a paint shop that had a computer and whose employees were following the updates.

Naresh Chandra Das, a resident of Ballygunge, was among those who gathered near Mamata's home. Das wore a hat that had a picture of Mamata and that of a tiger.

“It was known to everyone that Didi will win. I couldn't sit at home and enjoy this victory. I am a party worker and I have come here to be in the middle of everyone and celebrate this win,” he said.

Mamata finally won by 58,835 votes. She asked supporters not to organise any victory rallies.

Trinamul leaders said Mamata’s decision on victory rallies would serve two ends — stop the spread of Covid and nip in the bud any attempt by the BJP to allege post-poll violence.

“The BJP’s candidate from Bhowanipore has already written to the acting chief justice of Calcutta High Court requesting directions to the police to prevent any post-poll violence. If there are no rallies, the chances of skirmishes reduce and the attempt by the BJP to malign us is also nipped in the bud,” said a leader.