Polls: WB registers 92% turnout in phase-1; TN sees over 85%

West Bengal registered a record voter turnout of 92.72 per cent in the first phase of assembly polls on Thursday amid sporadic incidents of violence, while Tamil Nadu recorded unprecedented voting of 85.14 per cent as the BJP pushed to unseat Mamata Banerjee in Bengal and expand in the South.
In the first phase, 152 constituencies in West Bengal went to polls, while voting for the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly was held in one go.
The elections are taking place against the backdrop of a massive political row over the SIR of the electoral rolls, a major flashpoint between the BJP and opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
In West Bengal, the BJP is eyeing to wrest power from Banerjee-led TMC, which seeks a fourth straight term in a state the saffron party has never governed, and in Tamil Nadu, key contenders are the ruling DMK and main opposition AIADMK, while actor-politician Vijay-led TVK and Tamil nationalist Seeman-led NTK are putting up a determined fight.
The second phase for the remaining 142 of 294 seats in West Bengal will be held on April 29. The counting for all four states and one Union Territory—Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry—will be on May 4.
Over 90 per cent in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections set the tone for a fiercely contested battle, even as allegations over electoral roll revisions, sporadic violence and duelling political narratives underscored a high-stakes opening round between the ruling TMC and the BJP.