WB polls: Voter turnout crosses 78 pc in second phase; Mamata-Suvendu duel sharpens battle

KOLKATA: More than 78 per cent of 3.21 crore electors cast their votes in the second and final phase of West Bengal assembly polls on Wednesday amid sporadic violence reported in some parts of the state.

Tension gripped the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency briefly as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, vying for the prestigious seat, took swipes at one another in the same booth area.

From Bhabanipur in Kolkata and Basanti in South 24 Parganas, to Chapra in Nadia and Bally in Howrah, the day unfolded along Bengal's familiar election script -- long queues at polling stations, booth-level flare-ups, and political bickering.

Amid all this, it remains to be seen whether anti-incumbency and voter-list revisions can alter the arithmetic of power at Nabanna -- the state secretariat.

If the first phase of polling on April 23 tested the BJP's ability to hold its stronghold of north Bengal, the final round on Wednesday is seen as the real contest as the saffron party looks to breach the TMC's strongest fortress -- south Bengal.

Of the 142 seats voting in this phase, the ruling party had won 123 in 2021, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF.

Without breaching this Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman belt, there is no realistic route to government for the BJP.

That political reality rendered a greater significance to the 78.68 per cent polling recorded till 3 pm in the second phase.

With voting continuing till 6 pm, political observers said the final turnout could approach or even challenge the record 93.19 per cent participation seen in the first phase.

The turnout remained almost parallel to phase one, which had recorded over 78.77 per cent polling till 3 pm.

Purba Bardhaman recorded the highest turnout at 83.11 per cent, followed by Hooghly at 80.77 per cent and Nadia at 79.79 per cent.

Howrah registered 77.73 per cent polling, North 24 Parganas 77.39 per cent, while Kolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 78 per cent and 75.38 per cent turnout respectively. South 24 Parganas, where several prestige contests are underway, registered 76.75 per cent voting.

The TMC read the turnout as proof that its welfare politics and Mamata Banerjee's hold over south Bengal remained intact.

Conversely, the BJP saw it as a sign that people's anger over alleged corruption, recruitment scams, law-and-order concerns and anti-incumbency had translated into silent mobilisation against the ruling party.

At the centre of the fight is Bhabanipur, where Adhikari has been fielded against the TMC supremo, turning her bastion into a theatre of the state's biggest prestige battle. The contest is widely seen as a rematch of Nandigram, where Adhikari defeated Banerjee in 2021.

Banerjee, who usually votes later in the day, broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am, moving through Chetla, Padmapukur and Chakraberia following complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders.

As she sat outside a booth amid heavy deployment of central forces, Adhikari arrived there and declared, "I will not allow any hooliganism." Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the election by using central forces, election observers and officials. "The BJP wants to rig this election. Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful. Is there a goonda raj here?" she posed while alleging the CRPF personnel had visited the homes of TMC leaders late on Tuesday night, causing fear.

Adhikari dismissed the charges as "frustration", claiming Banerjee had realised that "not a single vote was coming her way".

Tension flared again in Kalighat when Adhikari visited another booth, and TMC workers raised slogans against him. Police resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd as BJP supporters answered with counter-slogans.

Beyond Bhabanipur, violence and disruption surfaced across districts.

In Nadia's Chapra, a BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted during a mock poll, while in Shantipur, a BJP camp office was vandalised. In Bhangar, the ISF alleged its polling agents were prevented from entering booths.

An EVM malfunction delayed voting in Bally, with central forces resorting to a lathi-charge to disperse the agitated voters.

In Kolkata's Entally, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal alleged that the TMC's polling agents tried to assault her after she objected to overcrowding inside a booth and a lack of voter privacy.

In Panihati, BJP candidate and the R G Kar victim's mother, Ratna Debnath, faced protests, while her party compatriot in Basanti, Bikash Sardar, alleged that "200 to 250 TMC goons" attacked his vehicle and assaulted his driver.

The TMC denied or did not immediately respond to most charges.

However, the deeper political contest remained over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Across south Bengal, lakhs of names had been deleted before polling -- over 12.6 lakh in North 24 Parganas, 10.91 lakh in South 24 Parganas, nearly 6.97 lakh in Kolkata and around six lakh in Howrah.

In at least 25 constituencies, the number of deleted names exceeds the previous victory margins. This has elevated the turnout figures from mere statistic to a political argument over who got counted and who did not.

The BJP has framed SIR as long overdue correction of voter lists, while the TMC has projected it as targeted disenfranchisement aimed at minority and migrant-heavy pockets. Political observers say the battle may continue long after voting ends, where victory margins are thinner than the number of deleted names.