West Bengal Assembly polls have always seen a lot of people voting.. The first phase of the Assembly election on Thursday saw the most people voting since 1947 with about 92% of people voting. What does this high voter turnout tell us about the election?
In the 2021 Assembly election the voter turnout was 82.30%. This was during the Covid-19 pandemic and a big battle between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP. With health concerns and multiple phases of voting over 59.9 million votes were cast out of 73.4 million registered voters. The Trinamool Congress won the election with 213 seats in the 294-member Assembly.
This time with 92.25% of the 3.6 crore registered voters voting on Thursday it means more people voted in West Bengal than in 2021. This is also the voter turnout in the state since India became independent. Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner of India said, “This is the ever percentage of polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since Independence – we salute each voter of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.”
One important thing to consider is the Election Commissions Special Intensive Revision of rolls. This exercise was controversial. Removed nearly 91 lakh names from the states electoral rolls. How many voter names were deleted in West Bengal due to this exercise?
The Special Intensive Revision exercise combined deletions of around 63 lakh names with an additional 27 lakh voters declared ineligible after judicial adjudication. Apart from deletions the Election Commission announced that a total of seven lakh voters have been added to West Bengal electoral rolls ahead of the first phase of voting. According to poll officials 3.22 lakh of these new voters will vote in the first phase while the remaining nearly 3.88 lakh voters will vote in the second phase.
Some districts, including Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, Malda, Nadia and South 24 Parganas saw some of the deletions. In Kolkata nearly 7 lakh voters were removed across constituencies leading to a significant drop in the voter base in both northern and southern parts of the city.
The Special Intensive Revision has reduced Bengals electorate from 7.6 crore to 6.8 crore bringing down the voter base. Roshan Kishore, data and political economy editor at the Hindustan Times wrote, ” Bengal voter turnout has already crossed 90%. Possible political undertones aside it is better and safer to see it as a result of Special Intensive Revision deletions.”
This has happened before in Bihar. After the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar voter turnout increased significantly in the 2025 Assembly polls compared to elections. Bihar recorded a 67.13% turnout in 2025 up from 57.29% in 2020 and 56.91% in 2015. The rise came after the Election Commission revised the rolls and removed lakhs of names classified as dead shifted, duplicate or otherwise ineligible.
Despite criticism that the exercise could suppress participation the final numbers showed Bihars turnout in decades suggesting a cleaner voter list combined with strong electoral engagement. Does high voter turnout give an advantage to the Trinamool Congress or the BJP?
In the phase voting was held in 152 of the 294 Assembly constituencies of West Bengal. Most voting was recorded in South Dinajpur and Cooch Behar till 7 PM according to reports.
Voter turnout in Assembly elections in Bengal has consistently been among the highest in India. Factors contributing to high turnout include strong party cadres, demography, community dynamics and womens increasing participation in recent polls.
Both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the primary opposition BJP would love to claim the voter turnout indicating a victory for them. “High turnout in West Bengal Election is seen by both Trinamool Congress and BJP as favouring them ” wrote KC Singh, diplomat and strategic affairs expert on X.
The Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh said, “In this first phase of the elections people have dealt a severe blow to the BJP and given their full support to the Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjees government. Of the 152 seats contested it is estimated that the Trinamool Congress will win least 125 ” citing the over 90% voter turnout.
High voter turnout is usually seen as being driven by anti-incumbency. When the Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front and came to power in 2011 West Bengal saw a turnout of 84.33%. This was 2.36 percentage points higher than the turnout seen in 2006.
However there is no evidence to suggest that higher turnout favours the incumbent or the challenger. Rajdeep Sardesai, consulting editor India Today TV wrote, “Record voter turnout in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Conventional wisdom: voter turnout = anti incumbency.. In the last decade turnouts across many states have generally been higher and incumbents can also gain. Net net: wait till results day May 4.”
What are the reasons behind the turnout in West Bengal? There are reasons behind the higher turnout in West Bengal apart from the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
Voters residing outside West Bengal for work travelled back to the state because they feared being dropped from the voter list and even losing their citizenship. This fear was drummed up by Trinamool Congress chief and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee said at a rally in Maynaguri of Jalpaiguri district in March referring to the Special Intensive Revision exercise and the deletion of voters “The EC, BJP and the Centre are not following the Constitution. They are trying to snatch voting rights.” She added, “Today they are snatching away voting rights; tomorrow they will snatch away citizenship by bringing the NRC.”
Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and industrial hubs like Surat and Khurja have seen people returning to Bengal for the election. Those who travelled far will definitely vote.
Many of the districts that voted in Phase 1 including Nadia, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar were among those that saw the number of deletions following the Special Intensive Revision fuelling speculation that fears of losing citizenship and voting rights may have driven the record turnout.
The higher voter turnout also hints at voter consolidation. People being able to vote due to the large deployment of Central Armed Police Forces personnel. There were 2.4 lakh Central Armed Police Forces personnel on the ground this time.
So the higher voter turnout reveals participation and an impact of the Special Intensive Revision exercise. It shows how the fear of losing voting rights on one hand and a secure environment, for voting on the other played their parts. What it will not reveal is which side has an advantage and will ultimately emerge victorious.
