General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026

Election Commission General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026 Tamil Nadu (84.69%) and West Bengal (Phase-I) (91.78%) record highest-ever poll participation since Independence

Posted On: 23 APR 2026 8:38PM by PIB Delhi

1. Polling for the General Elections for the Legislative Assemblies of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Phase-I) and the bye-elections in 3 ACs of 2 States (Gujarat and Maharashtra) began today at 7:00 AM.

2. Tamil Nadu with 84.69% and West Bengal (Phase-I) with 91.78% recorded the highest- ever poll-participation since Independence. Previously, the highest poll- participation in Tamil Nadu was 78.29% (2011 GELA) and in West Bengal was 84.72% (2011 GELA) respectively. Details of previous poll participation figures are annexed.

3. Details of poll participation (%) are as follows:

State/UT Poll Percentage (%) Male Female 3rd Total Gender General Elections to Legislative Assembly Tamil Nadu 83.57 85.76 60.49 84.69 West Bengal (Ph-I) 90.92 92.69 56.79 91.78 Bye-elections to AC Gujarat 61.52 56.34 50.00 59.03

1. Umreth-111 Maharashtra 61.61 53.29 4.48 57.48

1. Baramati-201

2. Rahuri-223 58.59 51.80 0.00 55.31*As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 6,345 PS in WB and 6,411 PS in TN yet to be updated +Data is provisional and it does not include Service Voters & Postal Ballots. Final figures will be shared in Index Cards through ECINET

4. Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr.

S.S. Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi kept a close watch on the polling through live webcasting which was ensured in 100% of the Polling Stations in both the states.

5. Details of electorate, polling stations, polling staff, candidates and polling agents in the

two states are as under:

State ACs Electorate Male Female 3rd Total (in (in Gender (in Crores) Crores) Crores) Tamil 234 2.80 2.93 7,728 5.73 Nadu West 152 1.84 1.76 465 3.60 Bengal (Ph-I) TOTAL 386 4.64 4.69 8,193 9.33

6. Presiding Officers updated the polling percentage on ECINET at the close of poll before leaving the polling station as per ECI’s latest instructions resulting in minimal delay in updation of the polling trends.

7. Several new voter-friendly initiatives such as easily identifiable colour photos of candidates on EVM ballot papers, Mobile Deposit Facility (MDF), newly designed Voter Information Slips (VIS) for easy readability and limit of electors upto 1,200 per polling station were ensured in these elections.

8. Polling stations were also provided with wheelchairs and volunteers to assist PwD voters. Transport facility was also provided to assist PwD voters in reaching their respective polling stations.

9. District-wise and AC wise approximate voter turnout figures are available on the ECINET App. ********** PK/GDH/RP Annexure -1Tamil Nadu: Gender-wise Poll Participation in Elections [1951 – 2026] Sl. Year of Male Female Election VTR VTR No. State Type % % [Excl. Postal votes] 1 Madras LA 1951 2 Madras LS 1951 3 Madras LA 1957 4 Madras LS 1957 5 Madras LA 1962 74.92 66.45 6 Madras LS 1962 73.07 64.55 7 Madras LA 1967 79.19 73.99 8 Madras LS 1967 79.23 73.94 9 Tamil LA 1971 74.55 69.66 Nadu 10 Tamil LS 1971 74.48 69.17 Nadu 11 Tamil LA 1977 64.02 59.08 Nadu 12 Tamil LS 1977 68.81 65.43 Nadu 13 Tamil LA 1980 69.14 61.61 Nadu 14 Tamil LS 1980 70.15 63.34 Nadu 15 Tamil LA 1984 74.42 72.49 Nadu16 Tamil LS 1984 74.00 71.94 Nadu 17 Tamil LA 1989 70.33 69.02 Nadu 18 Tamil LS 1989 68.67 65.01 Nadu 19 Tamil LA 1991 65.94 61.69 Nadu 20 Tamil LS 1991 66.02 61.76 Nadu 21 Tamil LA 1996 69.08 64.78 Nadu 22 Tamil LS 1996 68.99 64.85 Nadu 23 Tamil LS 1998 60.67 55.19 Nadu 24 Tamil LS 1999 60.96 54.96 Nadu 25 Tamil LA 2001 61.30 56.83 Nadu 26 Tamil LS 2004 64.49 56.89 Nadu 27 Tamil LA 2006 72.41 68.75 Nadu 28 Tamil LS 2009 73.95 71.91 Nadu 29 Tamil LA 2011 77.53 78.51 Nadu 30 Tamil LS 2014 73.35 73.83 Nadu31 Tamil LA 2016 74.16 74.33 Nadu 32 Tamil LS 2019 71.81 72.29 Nadu 33 Tamil LA 2021 72.88 72.61 Nadu 34 Tamil LS 2024 69.43 69.86 Nadu 35 Tamil LA 2026* 83.57 85.76 Nadu *As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 6,411 PS in TN yet to be updated throughECINET Annexure -3

West Bengal: Gender-wise Poll Participation in Elections [1951 – 2026] Sl. Year of Election Male Female Election Type VTR VTR No. State % % [Excl. Postal votes]1 West 1951 LA Bengal 2 West 1951 LS Bengal 3 West 1957 LA Bengal 4 West 1957 LS Bengal 5 West 1962 LA 61.77 47.43 Bengal 6 West 1962 LS 61.98 47.62 Bengal 7 West 1967 LA 70.69 60.51 Bengal 8 West 1967 LS 70.88 60.15 Bengal 9 West 1969 LA 69.67 62.57 Bengal 10 West 1971 LA 65.09 58.09 Bengal 11 West 1971 LS 64.51 58.57 Bengal 12 West 1972 LA 63.19 57.75 Bengal 13 West 1977 LA 59.72 51.86 Bengal 14 West 1977 LS 64.86 54.75 Bengal 15 West 1980 LS 72.58 68.18 Bengal16 West 1982 LA 78.79 74.87 Bengal 17 West 1984 LS 81.74 75.04 Bengal 18 West 1987 LA 77.42 73.65 Bengal 19 West 1989 LS 82.05 76.92 Bengal 20 West 1991 LA 77.53 75.96 Bengal 21 West 1991 LS 78.33 74.88 Bengal 22 West 1996 LA 83.86 81.92 Bengal 23 West 1996 LS 84.27 80.86 Bengal 24 West 1998 LS 80.73 77.66 Bengal 25 West 1999 LS 76.70 73.25 Bengal 26 West 2001 LA 77.83 72.53 Bengal 27 West 2004 LS 79.86 75.38 Bengal 28 West 2006 LA 82.34 80.75 Bengal 29 West 2009 LS 82.29 80.25 Bengal 30 West 2011 LA 84.22 84.45 Bengal31 West 2014 LS 82.19 81.96 Bengal 32 West 2016 LA 82.23 83.13 Bengal 33 West 2019 LS 81.35 81.79 Bengal 34 West 2021 LA 81.37 81.75 Bengal 35 West 2024 LS 78.20 80.16 Bengal 36 West 2026 LA 90.92 92.69 Bengal [Phase -1]* * As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 6,345 PS in WB yet to be updated +Data is provisional and it does not include Service Voters & Postal Ballots. Final figures will be shared in Index Cards through ECINET(Release ID: 2255010) Visitor Counter : 39170

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