A polling official marks a voter's finger with indelible ink during the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, at a polling station in Kolkata, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
The exit polls for the Assembly elections held in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are all set to be released on Wednesday (April 29, 2026), after the second and final phase of voting concludes in West Bengal later in the day.
Tamil Nadu recorded a historic 85.1% voter turnout in the Assembly polls, while Puducherry led with 91.23%. Assam saw a turnout of 85.91%, and Kerala registered 78.27%.
The first phase of the West Bengal Assembly Elections on Thursday (April 23, 2026) witnessed the highest-ever voter turnout in any of the State’s Assembly elections since independence, with 92.88% across 152 constituencies in 16 districts, sealing the fate of 1478 candidates in the fray.
While Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry went to the polls in a single phase on April 9, 2026, Tamil Nadu voted on April 23, 2026. West Bengal voted in two phases: on April 23, 2026 and the second phase today.
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April 29, 2026 17:20
Absolute voter increases seen across State followed spatial patterns
The all-time high turnout in Tamil Nadu – 85.1%, according to provisional figures from the Election Commission of India – was shown to be a consequence of the Special Intensive Revision exercise in the State that had led to the net deletion of 68 lakh electors.
While the State also registered an increase in the absolute number of voters who turned out, the provisional addition of roughly 24.8 lakh voters appears lower than the gains registered in recent cycles — 31.1 lakh between 2016 and 2021, and 64.8 lakh between 2011 and 2016. At the same time, when we break down the State-wide aggregate increase this election, distinct constituency-level variations that cut across urban/rural segments and regions are observed.
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Published - April 29, 2026 05:20 pm IST
