West Bengal Polls End with Record 92.47% Turnout

West Bengal concluded its two-phase assembly elections on April 29 with a record combined voter turnout of 92.47 percent across 294 seats, the highest since independence, according to Election Commission of India data. The second phase, covering 142 constituencies in seven southern districts including Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas, and Purba Bardhaman, recorded 91.66 percent turnout until 7:45 p.m., following 93.19 percent in the first phase on April 23.

The elections pitted incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, seeking a fourth term after 15 years in power, against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which aimed to capitalize on anti-incumbency and expand from its 2021 gains. An electorate of roughly 32.1 million voted in the second phase, with women outpacing men at 92.28 percent participation compared to 91.07 percent. Officials attributed the surge to voter-friendly measures such as candidate photos on electronic voting machines, redesigned voter slips, and a cap of 1,200 electors per polling station. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar called it "the highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal in both Phase I & II...