Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 29 (ANI): TMC candidate from Beleghata Assembly Constituency, Kunal Ghosh, on Wednesday exuded confidence in the party's victory as the second phase of polling in West Bengal.

Ghosh said that it is a good sign that women and senior citizens have come forward to vote in large numbers.

He then blamed the Election Commission for 'mismanaging' the polling, leading to long queues, which he associated with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll process.

'The people are in support of Didi. But due to the mismanagement of the Election Commission, the polling is taking place slowly. People were in queues for the SIR, and now, because of EC's mismanagement. This should not happen. Women voters and senior citizen voters are coming forward to vote, and this is a good sign,' he told ANI.

Kunal Ghosh is up against the BJP's Partha Chaudhury, CPI (M) Paramita Roy and Congress's Shahina Javed at the Beleghata Assembly Constituency.

West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 78.68% till 3:30 pm on Wednesday in the second phase of polling for the assembly elections.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Purba Bardhaman district topped the charts with the highest voter turnout of 83.11% so far, with Hooghly following with 80.77% turnout.

The main fight in West Bengal in the 2026 elections is between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Earlier in the day, West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari inspected the polling booths in Bhabanipur constituency. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee cast his vote at the Mitra Institute polling booth in Bhabanipur.

The second phase of the polling is widely seen as the 'litmus test' for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), as voting moves into the party's traditional fortresses in South Bengal and Kolkata. (ANI)