Chennai/Kolkata, 23 April (HS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged voters in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to participate enthusiastically in the ongoing Assembly elections, describing voting as a “sacred duty” of democracy.

In separate messages, he appealed particularly to youth and women in both states to come out in record numbers and strengthen democratic participation.

Polling began across all 234 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and will continue till 6:00 pm under tight security arrangements. According to officials, the state has over 5.73 crore voters, including 2,93,04,905 women, 2,80,30,658 men, and 7,728 third-gender voters.

The main contest in Tamil Nadu is between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with actor Vijay also entering the fray with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

In West Bengal, polling for 152 Assembly constituencies commenced in the first phase out of a total of 294 seats. The contest is primarily between the ruling Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

According to the Election Commission of India, 1,478 candidates are in the fray in this phase, while the remaining 142 seats will go to polls in the second phase on April 29.

Counting of votes for both states is scheduled for May 4.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar