New Delhi [India], April 23 (ANI): The voter turnout in West Bengal (Phase 1) was recorded at 18.76 per cent, while in Tamil Nadu it was recorded at 17.69 per cent at 9 am on Thursday. Tiruppur district recorderd the highest turnout with 20.38% voting while Chennai district registered a turnout of 16.51% and Erode recorded 19.55% turnout.

In West Bengal Paschim Mednipur district recorded a high turnout of 20.51% while Bankura recorded 20.20% and Jhargram registered 19.84% turnout.

Polling for the Assembly elections began in Tamil Nadu and 152 constituencies in West Bengal amid tight security on Thursday. The voting will conclude at 6:00 pm today. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.

Several leaders, including Chief Minister MK Stalin, TVK chief Vijay, DMK minister KN Nehru, along with actors Rajinikanth and Dhurv Vikram, cast their votes this morning.

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik said that the state's electorate comprises over 5.73 crore voters, featuring 2,93,04,905 female voters, 2,80,30,658 male voters, and 7,728 third-gender voters. The poll body is also catering to 14,59,039 first-time voters and 68,501 service voters, with 4,18,541 postal votes already received. Furthermore, 62 counting centres have already been established to ensure a smooth process after the high-stakes voting concludes.

The main contest is expected between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes the Congress, DMDK and VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK with BJP and PMK as allies.

With the DMK banking on its Dravidian 2.0 model, the AIADMK-led NDA is fighting for a comeback. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is also set to make his electoral debut with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which could turn the contest into a three-way fight.

In West Bengal, the parties are contesting against one another for 294 Assembly seats. As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the first phase covers 152 Assembly constituencies, while the second phase includes 142 seats. There are a total of 1,478 candidates in the fray in this phase.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is aiming for a fourth consecutive term, while the BJP, which secured 77 seats in the previous election, is making a renewed push to form the government in the state. (ANI)