Bengal, Tamil Nadu record highest-ever turnout since Independence in Phase 1 of polling, says Gyanesh Kumar

India’s democratic machinery roared to life on Thursday as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu recorded their highest-ever voter turnout since Independence, informed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The CEO lauded voters for their overwhelming participation, calling the surge a powerful endorsement of democratic values.

“The highest-ever percentage of polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since Independence—ECI salutes each voter,” he said.


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West Bengal clocked an impressive 91.78% turnout, while Tamil Nadu followed closely with 84.69%. Counting of votes will take place on May 4.

In West Bengal, several districts crossed the 90% mark, reflecting robust participation across regions. Dakshin Dinajpur led with 94.85%, followed by Cooch Behar (94.54%), Birbhum (93.70%), Jalpaiguri (93.23%) and Murshidabad (92.93%), with most major districts comfortably registering above 90%.

In Tamil Nadu, voting remained brisk through the day, with turnout reaching around 84.60% by 6 pm—translating to roughly 4.84 crore voters out of an electorate of 5.73 crore across 234 constituencies. District-wise trends showed significant variation, with Karur leading at 92.48%, followed closely by Salem (90.42%), Dharmapuri (90.02%), Erode (89.97%) and Namakkal (89.63%).

At the other end, Kanyakumari recorded the lowest turnout at 75.50%, with Ramanathapuram (76.28%), Sivaganga (76.18%), Tirunelveli (77.49%) and Thoothukudi (79.92%) also trailing the state average.

According to the Election Commission of India, polling gathered strong momentum in the morning hours and remained steady until early afternoon. However, a dip was observed between 1 pm and 3 pm, largely attributed to intense summer heat. Voting activity picked up again after 3 pm as more people arrived at polling stations, pushing the turnout to around 84.35% by early evening.

Polling continued beyond official hours at several booths, as officials issued tokens to voters who had entered polling premises before the 6 pm deadline, ensuring that every eligible voter in queue could cast their ballot.

The latest turnout figures mark a sharp rise from the 2021 Assembly elections, when West Bengal recorded 85.2% voting and Tamil Nadu 76.6%, reinforcing a continuing trend of high electoral participation in both states.

Meanwhile, by-elections elsewhere saw relatively lower turnout. The Umreth constituency in Gujarat recorded 59.04%, while Rahuri in Maharashtra saw 55.70% polling and Baramati reported 57.77%.

Polling was held across 234 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and 152 constituencies in West Bengal, with the remaining 142 seats in West Bengal scheduled to vote on May 29.