Bengal witnessed a record voter turnout of 91.7 per cent in the first phase of polls for 152 Assembly seats spread across 16 districts on Thursday, prompting the Election Commission to claim credit for it.
The EC said measures to hold free and fair polls encouraged people to come out and vote in huge numbers, but political observers cited multiple reasons behind the record voter turnout.
“Till 6pm on Thursday, 91.7 per cent polling was reported from 152 Assembly seats. It seems voter turnout can reach up to 95 per cent, the highest in recent memory,” said an EC official.
Speaking to reporters later in the evening, Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal said: “Even at 6pm, there were queues outside 4,858 booths.”
Senior poll panel officials said initiatives taken by the EC instilled confidence among voters, and they came out in huge numbers, breaking records.
“The way polling booths were secured by installing multiple cameras, deploying central force jawans and allowing voters to enter the 100-metre radius of the booth only after verification by the BLOs, the voters felt assured that they could cast their votes without problems. Deployment of central forces soon after election dates were announced also helped build voter confidence,” said an EC official.
He also said that the EC received about 1,500 complaints throughout the day, but there were no complaints of booth capturing, booth jamming and voter intimidation in and around booths. The complaints were mainly related to law and order outside the 100-metre radius of booths, and those were attended to promptly.
“Yes, there were some law and order-related complaints outside the booths and nearby restricted areas. It is tough to change the culture of violence on the poll day, but the complaints of electoral malpractice inside the booths came down to zero this year,” claimed an EC official.
Political observers cited multiple reasons behind the huge voter turnout.
First, after the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, panic gripped most voters. Most voters felt that if they didn’t cast their votes this year, they could face trouble or even deletion from the rolls in future. This sentiment drove lakhs of migrant workers to come home and cast their votes.
“Almost 40 lakh people in Bengal are migrant workers, but this time they sacrificed wages and came back to their districts to vote. Most are from the 16 districts that went to polls on Thursday. This could be the main reason behind the high turnout,” said a source.
Second, post-SIR, electoral rolls were free of bogus voters — mainly dead, shifted, duplicate and absent voters — causing the base of total voters to come down. “So, naturally, voter turnout was expected to be on the higher side. The same trend was witnessed in Puducherry and Assam, where 89.03 per cent and 85.38 per cent voter turnout, respectively, was recorded this year,” said a political observer.
In Bengal, high turnout is nothing new. In 2021, the voter turnout was 83.2 per cent in the same districts which voted on Thursday. In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bengal’s turnout was 80.3 per cent.
Bengal saw 84.6 per cent polling in 2011, when the Trinamool Congress toppled the 34-year Left Front regime.
Even though high voter turnout usually indicates an anti-establishment wave in a state, political observers said it would be tough to guess the outcome of the 2026 Bengal elections solely based on it. “In 2021, huge polling was recorded, but Trinamool came back to power with a thumping victory. Ten years before, in 2011, high voter turnout meant the fall of the 34-year-old Left regime. So, it is tough to guess the outcome of the polls based on voter turnout this time, especially after the SIR,” said a political observer.