KOLKATA — Average voter turnout in the first phase of the West Bengal assembly election reached 90% by 3 p.m. Thursday, eight hours into polling, the Election Commission said.
The highest turnout in eight hours of polling was in the Samsherganj seat in Murshidabad district, where 87.53% of voters had cast ballots, commission data showed.
The Muslim-majority seat had also seen the highest number of names struck from the voter list.
The two other seats with the second- and third-highest number of names removed from the rolls in the special intensive revision (SIR), Lalgola and Bhagabangola, recorded turnout of about 85% and 84% respectively.
When BBC correspondents visited the three areas, they found many migrant workers returning from other states solely to vote.
People in these areas feared that if they did not vote this time, their names would be struck from the voter rolls, so they returned home regardless of work.
In Nandigram, where outgoing leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari is contesting, turnout was 81.3% by 3 p.m.
The lowest turnout was in Purulia, where 72.22% had voted by 3 p.m.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report