Kolkata: Middle-aged and elderly voters are expected to play a decisive role in shaping the outcome of the second and final phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled for Wednesday (April 29).
Data from the Election Commission of India show that voters in the 30-39 age group form the largest segment, with 73.56 lakh electors (22.86 per cent). They are followed by senior citizens (above 60), who account for 61.49 lakh voters, or nearly 20 per cent of the electorate.
Taken together, these two age groups constitute over 42 per cent of the total 3.21 crore electorate going to the polls in this phase.
Among senior citizens, 1,96,801 voters are above 85 years of age, including 3,243 centenarians.
The 20-29 age group comprises 60.96 lakh voters (18.95 per cent), while the 40-49 and 50-59 brackets are nearly evenly matched at 61.02 lakh (18.96 per cent) and 60.54 lakh (18.81 per cent), respectively.
First-time voters aged 18-19 have a limited presence in the electoral roll, accounting for just 1.28 per cent, with a total of 4,12,688 electors.
The roll also includes 57,783 persons with disabilities (PwD), 39,961 service voters and 146 NRIs. Overall, the electorate comprises 1.64 crore men, 1.57 crore women and 792 third-gender voters, resulting in a gender ratio of 958 women per 1,000 men. The elector-to-population ratio stands at 0.64.
Of the 142 Assembly constituencies going to the polls, 120 (84.5 per cent) have more than 2 lakh voters. Seventeen constituencies fall in the 1.5-2 lakh range, while six constituencies have electorates between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh.