NEW DELHI: With the polling for the general elections to the legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Puducherry ended with record voting, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday said, they are historical testimony not only for India but for the entire democratic world.
In an official statement Kumar said, “Assembly Elections 2026 in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are a historic testimony not only for India but for the entire democratic World. On behalf of the ECI, I congratulate each and every elector of Assam, Puducherry and Kerala for this historic achievement. Chunav ka Parv, Matdaata ka Garv!”
The assembly elections in the two states and Union Territory of Puducherry, along with bye-elections in four Assembly constituencies across Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura, remained largely peaceful and unprecedented voter participation in key regions, officials in the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.
Explaining further the highest ever voters’ turnouts in last 50 years, a source in the ECI said electors have a very high trust in the poll panel led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
“As per Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the ECI has two main roles to play including preparation of Electoral Rolls, which was conducted with electors having a very high trust in transparent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the poll panel and the conduct of elections during which electors have showed a very high trust in transparent conduct of elections.”
With such a high faith of electors in elections conducted by the ECI, India is a much stronger Democracy now, they added.
According to the ECI, the final voters’ turnout in Assam and Puducherry recorded the highest-ever, with 85.38 per cent and 89.83 per cent, respectively. These surpassed the previous records of 84.67 per cent in Assam (2016) and 86.19 per cent in Puducherry (2011). Kerala also witnessed a robust turnout of 78.03 per cent, reflecting strong voter participation.
In an official statement the ECI said, a total of over 5.31 crore voters exercised their franchise across 296 Assembly constituencies in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.
Simultaneously, in bye-elections, which were held in four constituencies -- two in Karnataka, one in Nagaland and one in Tripura, turnout was around 68 percent in Karnataka and over 82 percent in Nagaland’s Koridang constituency.
“Polling began at 7 am across 63,084 polling stations and was conducted smoothly, with only a few minor incidents reported. Over 2.5 lakh polling personnel had reached their assigned stations a day in advance, ensuring timely commencement of voting. Mock polls were conducted before the start of voting in the presence of more than 1.8 lakh polling agents representing 1,899 candidates,” the ECI said.