Tamil Nadu registers 38% voter turnout, Bengal 41% at 11:00am
What's the story
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal witnessed a massive voter turnout during the early hours of polling on Thursday. According to the Election Commission of India, West Bengal recorded a 41.11% turnout while Tamil Nadu saw 37.57% by 11:00am. In Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district, the highest turnout was at 42.45%, followed closely by Namakkal (41.41%) and Erode (41%).
District turnout
District-wise voter turnout in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai recorded lower turnouts at 35.47%, 38.62%, and 36.22%, respectively. The Nilgiris district had the lowest voter turnout at 32.62%. In West Bengal, Paschim Mednipur recorded the highest turnout at 44.68%. Jhargam and Bankura followed with turnouts of 43.71% and 43.22%, respectively, while Malda recorded the lowest turnout at 38.22%.
Election details
Voting underway till 6pm results on May 4
The Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal began under tight security. The voting will end at 6:00pm on Thursday. The votes will be counted on May 4. In Tamil Nadu, over 5.73 crore voters are eligible to vote, including 2,93,04,905 female voters and 2,80,30,658 male voters along with a small number of third-gender voters (7,728).
Political landscape
Mamata Banerjee seeks 4th term in Bengal
In Tamil Nadu, the main contest is between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance, led by AIADMK. The DMK alliance includes Congress, DMDK, and VCK. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is seeking a fourth term while the BJP aims to increase its presence after winning 77 seats last time. Voting for 284 assembly seats in Bengal is being held in two phases. The second phase of voting will take place on April 29.