West Bengal records highest-ever poll-participation since Independence

Election Commission West Bengal records highest-ever poll- participation since Independence

91.66% poll-participation recorded in Phase-II

Posted On: 29 APR 2026 8:35PM by PIB Delhi

1. Polling for the General elections for the Legislative Assemblies of West Bengal (Phase-II) began today at 7:00 AM.

2. As of 7:45 PM, poll-participation in West Bengal (Phase-II) stood at 91.66%. In phase -I of the West Bengal general elections, the poll-participation was 93.19%. The combined poll- percentage over the two-phases stands at 92.47%. Previously, the highest poll-participation in WB was

84.72% (2011 GELA). Details of poll-participation over the years are annexed.

3. Gender-wise details of poll-participation (%) in West Bengal Assembly Election (Phase-II) are as

follows:

General Elections to Legislative Assembly of Poll Percentage (%) *+ WB (Phase-II) Male Female 3rd Gender Total

91.07 92.28 91.28 91.66 *As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 5,343 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

4. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) 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 West Bengal (Phase-II) as well.

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

both phases are as below:

Electorate Polling Polling PHASE Districts ACs Male Female 3rd Total Candidates Stations Staff (in (in Gender (in crores) crores) crores)I 16 152 1.84 1.76 465 3.60 1,478 44,376 2,21,880 II*+ 8 142 1.65 1.57 792 3.21 1,448 41,001 2,05,005 TOTAL 24 294 3.49 3.33 1,257 6.81 2,926 85,377 4,26,885 *As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 5,343 PS in WB(Phase-II) 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

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 facilities were 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 -1 Table2: West Bengal: Gender-wise Poll Participation in Elections [1951 – 2026] Sl. State Year of Election Election Male Female Total Election Type Year VTR VTR % VTR No.

% % 1 West Bengal 1951 LA 1951(LA) 43.12 2 West Bengal 1951 LS 1951(LS) 40.49 3 West Bengal 1957 LA 1957(LA) 47.64 4 West Bengal 1957 LS 1957(LS) 47.67 5 West Bengal 1962 LA 1962(LA) 61.77 47.43 55.55 6 West Bengal 1962 LS 1962(LS) 61.98 47.62 55.75 7 West Bengal 1967 LA 1967(LA) 70.69 60.51 66.108 West Bengal 1967 LS 1967(LS) 70.88 60.15 66.03 9 West Bengal 1969 LA 1969(LA) 69.67 62.57 66.51 10 West Bengal 1971 LA 1971(LA) 65.09 58.09 62.03 11 West Bengal 1971 LS 1971(LS) 64.51 58.57 61.93 12 West Bengal 1972 LA 1972(LA) 63.19 57.75 60.82 13 West Bengal 1977 LA 1977(LA) 59.72 51.86 56.15 14 West Bengal 1977 LS 1977(LS) 64.86 54.75 60.24 15 West Bengal 1980 LS 1980(LS) 72.58 68.18 70.62 16 West Bengal 1982 LA 1982(LA) 78.79 74.87 76.96 17 West Bengal 1984 LS 1984(LS) 81.74 75.04 78.61 18 West Bengal 1987 LA 1987(LA) 77.42 73.65 75.66 19 West Bengal 1989 LS 1989(LS) 82.05 76.92 79.67 20 West Bengal 1991 LA 1991(LA) 77.53 75.96 76.80 21 West Bengal 1991 LS 1991(LS) 78.33 74.88 76.73 22 West Bengal 1996 LA 1996(LA) 83.86 81.92 82.94 23 West Bengal 1996 LS 1996(LS) 84.27 80.86 82.66 24 West Bengal 1998 LS 1998(LS) 80.73 77.66 79.27 25 West Bengal 1999 LS 1999(LS) 76.70 73.25 75.05 26 West Bengal 2001 LA 2001(LA) 77.83 72.53 75.29 27 West Bengal 2004 LS 2004(LS) 79.86 75.38 78.04 28 West Bengal 2006 LA 2006(LA) 82.34 80.75 81.58 29 West Bengal 2009 LS 2009(LS) 82.29 80.25 81.4230 West Bengal 2011 LA 2011(LA) 84.22 84.45 84.72 31 West Bengal 2014 LS 2014(LS) 82.19 81.96 82.22 32 West Bengal 2016 LA 2016(LA) 82.23 83.13 83.02 33 West Bengal 2019 LS 2019(LS) 81.35 81.79 81.76 34 West Bengal 2021 LA 2021(LA) 81.37 81.75 82.30 35 West Bengal 2024 LS 2024(LS) 78.20 80.16 79.55 36 West Bengal 2026 LA *2026(LA) 91.74 93.24 92.47 *As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET. Data from 5,343 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 ECINETAnnexure-3Table2: Phase-wise & gender-wise Poll Participation (%) in General Elections to SLA of West Bengal - 2026 Phase 1 Phase 2 Combined (Phase 1 & 2) Male 92.34 91.07 91.74 Female 94.1 92.28 93.24 Total 93.19 91.66 92.47 ***** (Release ID: 2256756) Visitor Counter : 461

Read this release in: Tamil , ही , Marathi , Bengali , Gujarati