Voter Turnout At 03:00 PM: West Bengal Nears 79%, Tamil Nadu At 70%

Polling saw strong participation in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on Thursday, with turnout figures touching 78.77 per cent in West Bengal and 70 per cent in Tamil Nadu by 3:00 PM, according to the Election Commission of India.

In West Bengal, voting is underway for 152 constituencies across 16 districts as part of the first phase of the Assembly elections.

Polling began at 7:00 AM and saw steady voter presence through the day, with long queues reported at several booths.

The districts covered in this phase include Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, North and South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan, and Birbhum.

The state will move to the second phase of voting on April 29, covering the remaining 142 constituencies.

Election officials said that 635 complaints had been received by 11:00 AM during polling in the first phase. Filing with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer accounted for 260 of these, while submissions through the C-Vigil application accounted for 375.

Tamil Nadu is holding elections for all 234 Assembly constituencies in a single phase. Over 5.7 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots, choosing from 4,023 candidates.

The contest in Tamil Nadu involves major political formations such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led bloc, Naam Tamilar Katchi, and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

Voting began early and continued with consistent turnout across districts, with political parties closely tracking participation levels.

Counting of votes for both states will take place on May 4, when the results will determine the next governments.

Also Read: Voter Turnout At 01:00 PM: West Bengal At 61.18%, Tamil Nadu At 56.81%