Millions of voters cast their ballots Thursday across India as the states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu held provincial legislative elections, with polling beginning early in the morning, the Election Commission of India said.
In West Bengal, the voting was held in 152 of its constituencies in the first phase, out of 294 total seats. A second phase of polling is scheduled for next week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (Party (BJP)) has conducted an aggressive campaign in West Bengal to unseat the incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is eyeing a fourth consecutive term in the state with nearly 68 million eligible voters.
The elections are also taking place amid concerns expressed by the opposition parties over the removal of voters in West Bengal during the special intensive revision exercise of electors conducted by the Election Commission. The commission has expanded similar exercises in other states of the country.
Around 9 million voters have been removed from the electoral rolls, with officials saying the exercise was aimed to remove "duplicate, deceased, or otherwise ineligible voters."
Chief Minister Banerjee has criticized BJP that it has been attempting to "divide people” on religious and caste lines-a charge denied by the BJP.
By Thursday evening, the voter turnout in West Bengal had reached nearly 90%.
Voting was also held in southern Tamil Nadu and the turnout was over 80% by late afternoon on Thursday, according to the Election Commission.
There were some 57 million eligible voters in Tamil Nadu.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to woo the voters during the campaigning, in order to form the government in the southern state. So far, BJP has never formed a government in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this month, voting was held in the northeastern state of Assam and southern Kerala state, along with the federally administered territory of Puducherry.
The results of all the elections will be declared next month on May 4.
