New Delhi [India], April 24 : Congress MP Manish Tewari on Friday said that the high voter turnout in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections and the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls is a "statistical illusion" resulting from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking with ANI, Manish Tewari said, "The turnout is a statistical illusion as a consequence of the malicious effect of an absolutely misguided SIR, where votes have been deleted arbitrarily without any cause, and lakhs and lakhs of appeals challenging the deletions were not decided, effectively disenfranchising people," he said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the high voting percentage in West Bengal reflects public anger against the Mamata Banerjee-led government and suggested that the electorate is voting for change.
Speaking to reporters, Bawankule said, "The voting percentage in West Bengal shows that the people have voted very enthusiastically. This means that Mamata Didi's government is going to go... Mamata Banerjee's government is working in a Mughal style; this is public anger against it."
Bawankule's comments came after the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said on Thursday that West Bengal and Tamil Nadu recorded the highest-ever voter turnout since Independence as polling concluded at 6 pm.
"Highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since Independence - ECI salutes each voter of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu," CEC Gyanesh Kumar said.
Polling for the Assembly elections concluded at 6 pm on Thursday, with West Bengal recording a significantly higher voter turnout of 91.91 per cent in Phase I polling compared to Tamil Nadu, which recorded 84.80 per cent turnout, according to the latest data by the Election Commission of India.
The high turnout figures underline an active electoral exercise as polling drew to a close amid tight security arrangements across constituencies.
Several districts in West Bengal recorded over 90 per cent voter turnout. Dakshin Dinajpur led with 94.85 per cent, followed by Cooch Behar at 94.54 per cent, Birbhum at 93.70 per cent, Jalpaiguri at 93.23 per cent, and Murshidabad at 92.93 per cent. The figures reflect consistently high voter participation across the state, with all major districts comfortably staying above the 90 per cent mark.
Tamil Nadu also recorded a strong turnout across key districts, with Karur leading at 92.48 per cent, followed closely by Salem at 90.42 per cent, Dharmapuri at 90.02 per cent, Erode at 89.97 per cent and Namakkal at 89.63 per cent.