West Bengal Assembly polls Phase 2 LIVE: Mamata accuses BJP of trying to 'rig', alleges central forces acting at its behest
The Hindu | 29 April 2026
A total of 18.39% of 3.21 crore voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling to 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of West Bengal Assembly elections, a senior Election Commission of India (ECI) official said.
Till 9 a.m., Purba Bardhaman district recorded the highest turnout at 20.86%, followed by Hooghly at 20.16%, he said. Nadia recorded 18.5% turnout, followed by North 24 Parganas (17.81%), Kolkata Uttar (17.28%), South 24 Parganas (17.25%), and Kolkata Dakshin (16.81%), he added.
Early morning visuals captured a state in “mission mode.” Election officials and polling agents gathered at dawn to conduct mock polls, a mandatory procedure to ensure the integrity of EVMs and VVPAT machines.
By 6:30 a.m., long queues had already snaked around polling stations in South 24 Parganas. Despite the intense heat predicted for later in the day, voters, many of them women and first-timers, arrived early to exercise their franchise in what is being described as one of the most polarised and significant elections in Bengal’s history.
The second round is widely seen as the “litmus test” for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), as voting moves into the party’s traditional fortresses in South Bengal and Kolkata.
The 142 seats that go to polls in the second phase are spread across seven districts -- North 24 Parganas (33 seats), South 24 Parganas (31), Nadia (17), Howrah (16) and Kolkata (11), Hooghly (18) and Purba Bardhaman (16). The key candidates in this phase of the election are Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, both contesting from Bhabanipur. Ministers of the Trinamool Government, including Firhad Hakim from Kolkata Port, Aroop Biswas from Tollygunge, Shashi Panja from Shaympukur and Bratya Basu from Dum Dum, are others who will face the polls.