West Bengal records highest voter turnout since 2011 Left ouster, polling crosses 92%
West Bengal's Assembly elections ushered in an extraordinary voter turnout, surpassing 92.72%—a record for the last fifteen years! Despite sporadic incidents of unrest, including stone-throwing, the elections proceeded with resilience. High-profil...
Kolkata: West Bengal witnessed an approximate voter turnout of over 92.72% across 152 constituencies in the ongoing Assembly polls, marking a notably high participation rate - the highest in over 15 years since the 2011 election that ended the 34-year Left Front rule and brought the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress to power - even as sporadic incidents of violence were reported, including stone-pelting on CAPF personnel in Birbhum. The turnout surpasses the 85..55% recorded in the 2011 Assembly polls and the 79.8% seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The Election Commission of India (ECI), with 100% webcasting and an AI-based surveillance system in place, faced a crucial test as large numbers of voters queued up at polling booths.
Isolated Clashes Reported
The voter turnout was highest in Dakshin Dinajpur, followed by Coochebhar, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram till 5 pm.
An impressive turnout emerged as the defining feature of the first phase of the West Bengal assembly polls held across 152 constituencies, with an electorate of 3.60 crore, including around 1.75 crore women voters. The ECI deployed a record 2,450 companies of central forces, with more than 8,000 polling stations identified as "highly sensitive".
High-voltage contests were witnessed in several constituencies, including Nandigram, where Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari is seeking a second term after defeating Mamata Banerjee in 2021. Adhikari is contesting against Pabitra Kar, once his close aide and a former BJP leader who later joined the Trinamool Congress. In the Baharampur seat, Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is contesting assembly polls after more than three decades.
In Dakshin Dinajpur's Kumarganj, a BJP candidate was attacked by miscreants. Subhendu Sarkar was seen fleeing with his security personnel to escape the alleged attackers. Sarkar said, "There was an attempt to attack me. I have informed the ECI. Trinamool workers were not allowing BJP agents inside booths, and I had gone there to intervene."
In Murshidabad, the convoy of Aam Aadmi Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir was attacked and vandalised. Incidents of clashes and stone pelting were reported from Dubrajpur in Birbhum, in which at least six CAPF jawans were injured, several of whom required hospitalisation.
