Kolkata: Voter turnout in the 142 constituencies that went to polls in the second phase of the West Bengal assembly election on Wednesday reached 92.6% by 11 pm, propelling the overall turnout across all 294 seats and two phases to a remarkable 92.9%. This figure easily surpasses the 2021 turnout of 81.5% and stands as one of the highest for any assembly election in India to date, according to Election Commission (EC) officials. Bengal's previous best turnout was in 2011, when 84.3% of voters cast their ballots to oust the 34-year-old Left Front government.
Record Turnout Nears National High
The overall turnout for Bengal comes tantalizingly close to the nationwide record of 93.6% set in Tripura's 2013 election. However, the Tripura figure was based on a combined count of EVM votes and postal ballots, whereas Bengal's percentage is calculated solely from EVM votes. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar declared, "Highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal since Independence. Chunav ka parv, Paschim Bengal ka garv." Women's turnout stood at 93.2%, while men's was 91.7%, the EC reported.
The high turnout resulted in more votes cast this time (6.3 crore) compared to 2021 (5.9 crore), despite the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) reducing the electorate size from 7.3 crore in 2021 to 6.8 crore. Conventional wisdom suggests that higher turnout often reflects anti-incumbency sentiment. However, this time, the visible public anger over the deletion of 27 lakh existing voters from the electoral roll and the manner in which the SIR process was conducted has complicated straightforward interpretations of the vote surge.
Kolkata Records Significant Jump
Kolkata, typically more vote-averse than the rest of Bengal, joined 22 other districts in raising the vote percentage. An estimated 88.4% of the city's electorate voted on Wednesday, according to EC estimates at 8 pm. This represents a record jump of over 28% compared to its 2021 performance of just over 60%. Kolkata (North) recorded 89.3% polling till 8 pm, slightly higher than Kolkata (South) at 87.7%.
District-Wise Turnout Highlights
East Burdwan led the turnout chart with 93.6% polling, followed by South 24 Parganas (92.6%) and North 24 Parganas (92.4%). Hooghly, Nadia, and Howrah recorded turnouts of 91.8%, 91.9%, and 91.7%, respectively.
EC Attributes Success to Security and Voter List Cleanup
EC officials attributed the unprecedented voter turnout to the weeding out of "non-existent voters" (which reduced the overall electorate size), "enhanced measures" that gave voters "a greater sense of security," and the provision of polling booths inside high-rise complexes. Only one death was attributed to political clashes this election season (in Asansol, where a Congress worker was killed after the first phase of polling). In contrast, there were 24 such deaths in 2021 (till the counting of votes) and seven in 2016.
Around 700 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will remain stationed in Bengal until at least the counting of votes, even as the other 1,800-odd companies begin leaving from Friday. Additional Director General of Police Anand Kumar stated that 19 people were arrested on Wednesday, in addition to 687 preventive arrests.
Complaints of Vote-Tampering
The EC received 77 complaints of vote-tampering, according to state chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal, who added that 23 of them were found to be "prima facie true." Officials indicated that a repoll could be ordered in these cases, with most complaints originating from Falta.
