What's behind Bengal's record voter turnout ?

UNI ANALYSISJayanta Roy ChowdhuryKolkata, April 24 -- West Bengal's unprecedented 92.88 per cent turnout in the first phase of polling seems less a straightforward indicator of political enthusiasm than the outcome of a confluence of structural and behavioural factors, despite claims by both TMC and BJP that the high voting figure meant people were rallying towards them.

While the BJP has gone on record claiming it was a vote "to oust the Mamata Banerjee government", the TMC Supremo tweeted on Friday "I saw people turn out with clear intent, determined, united and ready to defend Bengal."However, analysis of the numbers seems to indicate the story may have other extraneous factors.

First, the headline number is partly a statistical artefa...