40% Voter Turnout By 11 AM In Phase 2: Is West Bengal Set To Create A Voting Record?

Is West Bengal set to create history with a high voter turnout? While voting for the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 is underway on Thursday, April 29, the state has recorded a humongous 40 per cent voting just till 11 am. With seven more hours to go, these numbers are expected to rise.  Check Live updates of Phase-2 voting here.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the voters to vote in record numbers in Phase-2 of West Bengal polls. “Today is Phase-2 of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026. Urging all those voting today to do so in record numbers and make our democracy more vibrant as well as participative. It is important that the women and youth of West Bengal, in particular, turnout in large

numbers and exercise their franchise,” PM Modi posted on X.

देश के एक सजग नागरिक के रूप में हमारा कर्तव्य है कि हम लोकतंत्र को और अधिक सशक्त बनाने के लिए रिकॉर्ड मतदान सुनिश्चित करें। इस तरह हम न केवल भारतवर्ष के नवनिर्माण में अपनी सक्रिय भागीदारी निभा सकते हैं, बल्कि एक समर्थ और समृद्ध राष्ट्र की नींव को और मजबूत कर सकते हैं।

राज्ञो… pic.twitter.com/IXCeeJLaBJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2026

The first phase of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls, held on April 23, recorded 93.19 per cent voter turnout across 152 seats and 16 districts, according to the Election Commission. This not only far exceeded the 81.5 per cent turnout in the 2021 Assembly election but was also declared by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as the “highest‑ever” percentage since Independence for the state.

This Phase 1 turnout also overtakes the previous high of around 84.7 per cent in the 2011 Assembly polls. The 2011 election saw a historic political shift that ended the 34‑year rule of the Left Front and brought Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) to power in Bengal.

With a record high turnout in Phase 1, and voting touching 40 per cent by just 11 am in the second phase, all eyes are now on whether Bengal is well on its way to making history. Meanwhile, the exit poll results for West Bengal will also be one to watch out for with such high voting coming after the SIR exercise in the state.