New Delhi: It was the first of three polling days in the current round of Assembly elections in four states and one Union territory.
Assam and Puducherry saw quite high turnouts, while Kerala was the only state where under 80% of the electorate stepped out to exercise their franchise.
As per official data recorded till 6 pm, Puducherry recorded the highest turnout at 89.08%, followed by Assam at 85.04%.
Kerala lagged at 77.38%, but the final figures will go up slightly as voting for 140 Assembly seats continued till
beyond 6 pm.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, the turnout percentage in Kerala was even lower, at 74.06%.
In Assam, this year’s turnout surpassed the 2021 figure of 82.04%.
Among the 126 Vidhan Sabha constituencies, Dalgaon reported the highest turnout at 94.57%, while Amri recorded the lowest at 70.40%.
A total of 722 candidates are in the fray in the single-phase election in Assam, where the BJP is seeking a third straight term.
In Puducherry, too, polling for 30 Assembly constituencies had to be stretched beyond 6 pm as voters who reached polling stations before the deadline were allowed to wait in queues and cast their ballots. The NDA is aiming to retain power in the Union territory.
Voting in all 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 23, while polling in West Bengal will be held in two phases — April 23 and 29.
Counting of votes in the four states and one UT will be taken up on May 4.