Chennai, Ap 23: Polling for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the first phase of West Bengal’s elections began on Thursday amid tight security. Voting is scheduled to conclude at 6:00 pm, with counting of votes set for May 4.
By 9 am, voter turnout was 17.69% in Tamil Nadu and 18.76% in West Bengal. In Tamil Nadu, Tiruppur district recorded the highest early turnout at 20.38%, followed by Erode at 19.55%, while Chennai registered 16.51%. In West Bengal, Paschim Medinipur led with 20.51%, Bankura recorded 20.20%, and Jhargram 19.84%.
Several prominent leaders cast their votes in the morning, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, DMK minister KN Nehru, TVK chief Vijay, and actors Rajinikanth and Dhruv Vikram.
Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik stated that the state’s electorate comprises over 5.73 crore voters, including 2.93 crore female voters, 2.80 crore male voters, and 7,728 third-gender voters. The poll body is also facilitating 14.59 lakh first-time voters and 68,501 service voters, with 4,18,541 postal votes already received. 62 counting centres have been set up to ensure smooth vote counting.
The main contest in Tamil Nadu is expected between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance—which includes the Congress, DMDK, and VCK—and the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance, which counts BJP and PMK as allies. The DMK is campaigning on its “Dravidian 2.0” model, while the NDA seeks a comeback. Actor-turned-politician Vijay will make his electoral debut with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), potentially turning the race into a three-way contest.
In West Bengal, 294 Assembly seats are in play, with the first phase covering 152 constituencies and the second phase, scheduled for April 29, covering 142 seats. 1,478 candidates are contesting in this phase. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is seeking a fourth consecutive term, while the BJP, which won 77 seats in the previous election, is making a renewed push to form the state government.
