West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 18.39 per cent till 9 am on Wednesday, as polling got underway for the remaining 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the Assembly elections.
Among districts, Purba Bardhaman reported the highest turnout at 20.86 per cent, followed by Hooghly at 20.16 per cent. Turnout stood at 18.50 per cent in Nadia and 17.81 per cent in North 24 Parganas.
In urban centres, Kolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 17.28 per cent and 16.81 per cent turnout respectively, while Howrah saw 17.76 per cent voting.
The contest in the 2026 elections is primarily between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP. Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari inspected polling booths in Bhabanipur, while TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee cast his vote at the Mitra Institution polling station in the same constituency.
The second phase is being seen as a key test for the TMC, with voting taking place across its strongholds in south Bengal and Kolkata. This phase covers 142 of the state’s 294 seats, with an electorate of around 3.21 crore, including 1,64,35,627 men, 1,57,37,418 women and 792 third-gender voters.