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Kolkata: West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 89.99 per cent by 5 pm on Wednesday during the second phase of polling for 142 Assembly seats in the state elections.
According to the Election Commission (ECI), Purba Bardhaman district continued to maintain the lead with a whopping turnout of 92.46%, followed by Hooghly (90.34%), Nadia (90.28%), Howrah (89.44%) and North 24 Paraganas. South 24 Paraganas witnessed a turnout of 89.74% and 89.57% respectively.
Political parties are interpreting the high turnout in their favour. The first phase witnessed a record voter turnout of 91.78 per cent. While Trinamool Congress said it will win at least 100 of 152 seats that went to the polls in the first phase, the BJP said it is confident of winning 110 seats in the first phase.
The 142 seats that go to polls in the second phase are spread across seven districts - North 24 Parganas (33 seats), South 24 Parganas (31), Nadia (17), Howrah (16) and Kolkata (11), Hooghly (18) and Purba Bardhaman (16).
The key candidates in this phase of the election are Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, both contesting from Bhabanipur. Ministers of the Trinamool Government, including Firhad Hakim from Kolkata Port, Aroop Biswas from Tollygunge, Shashi Panja from Shaympukur and Bratya Basu from Dum Dum, are others who will face the polls.
The second phase of elections in West Bengal covers 142 out of the state’s 294 seats. Around 3.21 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots, including 1,64,35,627 men, 1,57,37,418 women, and 792 transgender voters. A total of 1,448 candidates are contesting, among them 220 women, across 41,001 polling stations. Notably, more than 8,000 of these polling stations are managed entirely by women.
