On the voting held in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said that this is the highest graph of voting after independence. He said, ‘The highest polling percentage in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since independence. The Election Commission salutes every voter of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Highest voting after independence

With 84.69% voting in Tamil Nadu and 91.78% voting in West Bengal (Phase-I), the highest ever voting participation was recorded since independence. Earlier, the highest voting participation was in Tamil Nadu at 78.29% (2011) and West Bengal at 84.72% (2011). In both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the share of women in voting is higher than that of men.

‘People voted without fear’

West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Aggarwal said, ‘The first phase of voting was completed today. There were 152 assembly seats and 45,000 booths… Voting is still going on at some places, while at some places paperwork is being done and EVMs are being sealed. They will be sent to the strong room. He said, ‘People voted without any fear. I have received reports that they were quite happy with the arrangements and incidents have also reduced. I want to thank all political parties and all concerned for fair and peaceful elections.

According to the data released from the Election Commission, till 6 pm, about 84.64 percent voting was recorded in Tamil Nadu and about 91.74 percent voting was recorded in West Bengal. These figures have clearly indicated that this time voters participated enthusiastically in the democratic process. During the first phase of voting in West Bengal, more than 90 percent voting was recorded in many districts, which is considered a big achievement.

District wise voting figures

According to district-wise data, the highest voting percentage was recorded in South Dinajpur at 94.77 percent, in Cooch Behar 94.40 percent, in Birbhum 93.61 percent and in Jalpaiguri 93.01 percent. Apart from this, 92.22 percent voting took place in Malda, 92.88 percent in Murshidabad, 92.04 percent in North Dinajpur and 91.78 percent in Jhargram. At the same time, in districts like Alipurduar, Bankura, West Medinipur and East Medinipur, the voting percentage remained between 89 to 91. Areas like Darjeeling (88.01 per cent) and Kalimpong (82.93 per cent) recorded relatively lower, but still strong, turnout.

Fate of 1,478 candidates will be decided

Voting in 16 districts of the state will decide the electoral fate of 1,478 candidates, including 167 women, in 152 constituencies of the 294-member state assembly. Voting started at seven in the morning. Despite the scorching heat and humidity, voters were seen standing in large queues outside the polling stations since morning and as time passed, the pace of voting increased. Sporadic incidents of violence in some districts, including attacks on candidates, created tension in the electoral environment of Bengal.

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