Assembly Election 2021 voting percentage LIVE Updates: Hooghly district recorded the highest turnout of 37.26 percent, South 24 Parganas the lowest at 32.44 percent
Assembly Election 2021 voting percentage LATEST Updates: Till 11.45 am, West Bengal records poll percentage of 34.71 in three districts where polling is being held for phase three. Hooghly district records highest turnout of 37.26 percent, South 24 Parganas records the lowest at 32.44 percent while Howrah district sees 36.97 percent turnout, according to the approximate voter turnout trends of the Election Commission.
As of 11 am, Kerala records 16.06 percent voter turnout, according to the Election Commission's voter turnout app. Idukki district registers the highest voter turnout of 20.61 percent while Kasargod records the lowest with 13.18 percent.
By 10.25 am, Tamil Nadu registers voter turnout of 8.76 percent. Among districts, Dharmapuri registers the highest of 11.86 percent while Chennai records the lowest turnout of 4.93 percent, according to the Election Commission's approximate voter turnout trends.
Of the three districts in West Bengal voting on Tuesday, Hooghly registered the highest voting percentage at 17.21 percent. Howrah witnessed 15.53 percent polling whereas, South 24 Parganas registered 12.89 percent turnout.
Among the 14 districts in Kerala voting on Tuesday, Alappuzha registered a voting percentage of 0.97 percent. Data for the rest 13 districts is yet to be released.
According to the latest data released by the Election Commission, Kerala recorded a voting percentage of 0.06 percent on Tuesday till 8 am in the single-phased Assembly polls.
While single-phase elections are being held in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry for 234, 140 and 30 seats respectively, 40 seats in Assam will go to polls in the third and final phase.
In West Bengal, polling will take place in 31 seats in the third of the eight phases. Bypolls to Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu and Malappuram Parliamentary constituency in Kerala will also be conducted simultaneously.
In West Bengal, more than 78.5 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise and decide the fate of 205 candidates in the three districts of Howrah, Hooghly and South 24 Parganas. Tight security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting, with 618 companies of CAPF deployed to guard 10,871 polling stations, all of which have been marked "sensitive" by the Election Commission.
State police forces will also be deputed at strategic locations to aid the CAPF. The poll panel also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in all the 31 constituencies, reported news agency PTI quoting an official, under which public gatherings are prohibited. With the coronavirus
situation in the state taking a turn for the worse, polling will be held from 7 am to 6.30 pm amid strict adherence to health protocols across all 31 constituencies.
West Bengal recorded 80.43 percent voter turnout in Phase 2 of the Assembly polls on 1 April. Bankura district, with 82.78 percent, witnessed the highest turnout while South 24 Parganas registered the lowest turnout at 79.66 percent
The TMC had won 30 of these Assembly segments in the 2016 elections while the Congress had managed to bag the Amta constituency in Howrah district. Following the 2019 general elections, however, the BJP has emerged as the main contender against the TMC
Prominent candidates in the fray in Bengal in phase three include being BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta, TMC minister Ashima Patra and CPM leader Kanti Ganguly.
In Tamil Nadu, as many as 3,998 candidates, including Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, DMK president MK Stalin, AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran, actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan, Naam Tamizhar Katchi leader Seeman and BJP state unit chief L Murugan are in the fray. Over 6.28 crore eligible voters will choose 234 members of the 3,998 contesting the elections.
The polling will decide whether the AIADMK will retain power for the third consecutive term or whether the DMK will reclaim it after a decade in Opposition. The DMK has been in the Opposition since 2011 when the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa stormed to the ruling saddle and also retained power in the subsequent elections in 2016.
In Kerala, 2.74 crore voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 957 candidates including high-profile leaders and Independent candidates. The total electorate in the state includes 1,32,83,724 male voters, 1,41,62,025 female voters and 290 transgenders, according to Election Commission figures.
The ruling LDF is hoping to retain power for a second consecutive term breaking the state's four-decades-old trend of alternating between the UDF every five year. While the UDF is all confident to form their government when the results are out on 2 May , the BJP-led NDA
is leaving no stone unturned to garner maximum number of seats to become a decisive force in the state's rule.
Key candidates trying their electoral luck include Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, health minister KK Shailaja, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Power Minister MM Mani, Higher Education Minister KK Jaleel from the LDF and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy from the UDF.
The election is crucial for an array of BJP leaders including former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, 'Metroman' E Sreedharan, who joined the saffron party recently, state president K Surendran, senior leader Shobha Surendran, Rajya Sabha members Suresh Gopi and KJ Alphons and others. The election is equally significant for Kerala Congress (M) chief Jose K Mani who recently snapped decades-long ties with the UDF and joined hands with the Left front.
In Assam, polling for the third and final phase will decide the fate of 337 candidates, including state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,his five cabinet colleagues and BJP state unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass. Also in the fray are 20 MLAs — eight from the Congress, five from the BJP, three each from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the BPF and one from the AGP.
The BJP is contesting in 20 seats while its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in nine and the United Peoples Party Liberal in eight, including a friendly contest between the saffron party and the UPPL in Bijni. The Congress has put up 24 candidates while the the AIUDF has fielded candidates in 12 seats, the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) in eight and the CPM in one. The Congress and AIUDF are in friednly contests in five seats.
The newly floated AJP is contesting in 22 seats while there are 126 Independents in the fray in the final phase of the election in which the BJP-led coalition is seeking to return to power for the second term in a row.
Polling will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm, with the timing extended by an hour to ensure that COVID-19 protocols are adhered to in the constituencies spread across 12 districts. Altogether 79,19,641 voters — 40,11,539 men, 39,07,963 women and 139 of the third gender are entitled to exercise their franchise in 11,401 polling stations and 45,604 polling personnel have been deployed for the phase.
A total of 30 Assembly segments including five reserved constituencies.Puducherry and its outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam will go to the polls on Tuesday.
The AINRC is seeking election from 16 seats after sharing the remaining 14 seats with BJP (nine) and AIADMK (four). Similarly, the Congress is contesting in 14 seats and supporting an Independent in Yanam while its allies the DMK is seeking election from 13 seats. The VCK and CPI, constituents of the alliance led by Congress, are wooing voters in Oulgaret and Thattanchavady constituencies respectively.
AINRC founder leader N Rangasamy seeking election from Thattanchavady in Puducherry and the lone seat in Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh. PCC president AV Subramanian is seeking election from his home town of Karaikal (north) while AIADMK convenors A Anbalagan and Om Sakthi Segar are testing their luck in Uppalam and Orleanpet segments respectively.
Four former Ministers MOHF Shah Jahan, M Kandasamy and R Kamalakannan are contesting from Kamaraj Nagar, Embalam (reserved) and Tirunallar respectively. Shahjahan had been contesting from Kalapet segment all along but now he is fielded by the Congress in Kamaraj Nagar and he is pitted against the BJP candidate A John Kumar. John Kumar and his son Richards (Nellithope constituency) are fighting the poll on BJP ticket.
Narayanasamy who headed the Congress government here since 2016 has now opted out of the poll battle. The previous PWD Minister A Namassivayam, who had been getting elected from his hometown Villianoor, is contesting from Mannadipet.
Assam recorded 76.96 percent turnout across 39 Assembly constituencies in Phase 2 of the Assembly polls on 1 April. Nalbari district, with 86.69 percent, witnessed the highest turnout while Cachar registered the lowest turnout at 72.28 percent.
With inputs from PTI
