‘Election Commission salutes voters’: Tamil Nadu, West Bengal record highest turnout since independence

New Delhi: The polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal turned fruitful on Thursday with the Election Commission (ECI) saying polling ended at 6 pm and the turnout in the two states reached the highest level since independence.Voting ended at 6 pm and according to the latest ECI data, West Bengal recorded a turnout of 91.91 per cent in the first of the two phases, while Tamil Nadu recorded a turnout of 84.80 per cent.“The poll ratio in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu has reached its highest level since independence and the ECI salutes every voter,” Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, according to ANI.Several districts in West Bengal recorded a turnout of over 90 per cent, led by Daksinth Dinapura (94.85 per cent), followed by Cooch Behar (94.54 per cent), Birbhum (93.70 per cent), Jalpaiguri (93.23 per cent) and Murshidabad (92.93 per cent).Tamil Nadu also saw high participation with Karur leading with 92.48%, followed by Salem (90.42%), Dharmapuri (90.02%), Erode (89.97%) and Namakkal (89.63%).Polling for all 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and 152 of the 294 assembly seats in West Bengal started at 7 am amid tight security. Polling for the remaining 142 seats in West Bengal will be held on April 29.Counting in both states is scheduled for May 4.In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have been in power since 2011 and the chief minister is currently seeking a fourth consecutive term. The BJP had its best-ever performance in the state in 2021, emerging as the main challenger.In Tamil Nadu, the DMK, which leads the Secular Progressive Alliance, is in power. Its main challenger is the National Democratic Alliance, led by the DMK’s main rival AIADMK in the state.In the 2021 Assembly elections, West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 85.2% and Tamil Nadu recorded a voter turnout of 76.6%.