NEW DELHI: West Bengal has registered a record 92.47 per cent voter turnout in the two-phase Assembly polls, the highest in the state since Independence, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
In 2013, Tripura had recorded the highest ever voter turnout in an Assembly election at 93.61 per cent.
As of 7.45 pm, poll participation in West Bengal in Phase II of the Assembly elections stood at 91.66 per cent. In Phase I of the elections on April 23, the poll participation was 93.19 per cent.
“The combined poll percentage over the two phases stands at 92.47 per cent,” the poll watchdog said.
West Bengal has a voter base of 6.81 crore.
Previously, the highest voter turnout in the state was 84.72 per cent in the 2011 Assembly polls.
In Phase II, the participation of women electors was marginally higher compared to men. According to the Election Commission (EC), 92.28 per cent of the total women electors voted as compared to 91.07 per cent of men.
Commenting on the impressive voter turnout, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, “For the highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal since Independence, the EC salutes each voter of the state.” On April 9, Assam and Puducherry surpassed their highest-ever poll participation by recording a voter turnout of 85.38 per cent and 89.83 per cent, respectively.
According to the EC, previously, the highest poll participation in Tamil Nadu was 78.29 per cent (in 2011).
In Tamil Nadu, women’s participation was recorded at 85.76 per cent as compared to 83.57 per cent for men.
In West Bengal, 92.69 per cent of women voters turned up at the polling stations in the first phase, compared to 90.92 per cent of men.
Tamil Nadu, where all the 234 seats went to polls on April 23, has 5.73 crore voters, whereas in the 152 seats in West Bengal, where polling was held on the same day, the voter base was 3.6 crore.
The counting of votes for all five Assemblies that went to polls this month – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam – will be taken up on May 4.
