Bumper voting for 121 seats

New Delhi: High turnout was witnessed in 121 constituencies which went to polls across 12 states in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in which the political fate of leaders like Nandan Nilekani, Maneka Gandhi, M Veerappa Moily and Jaswant Singh is at stake. There were a few incidents of violence, including blasts, in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh in which four people, including three security personnel, were injured.Four constituencies of West Bengal, which went to polls, recorded the highest turnout among the 12 states. The voter turnout was recorded at 78.89 per cent but was likely to go up as final figures were still being computed. The figure as of now was lower than previous Lok Sabha election turnout of 80.85 per cent.

In Manipur Inner constituency, the turnout was an impressive 74 per cent and it was likely to go up further. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the turnout was much higher at 77 per cent. In Bihar's seven constituencies, the turnout was 56 per cent as compared to 39.3 per cent recorded in the last general elections. The three constituencies of Chhattisgarh which went to poll in the fifth phase, the turnout was an impressive 63.44 per cent. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the turnout in these constituencies was 57.60 per cent. An electorate of 16.61 crore was eligible to exercise their franchise in 28 seats of Karnataka, 20 of Rajasthan, 19 of Maharashtra, 11 each of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, 10 of Madhya Pradesh, 7 of Bihar, 6 of Jharkhand, four of West Bengal, three of Chhattisgarh and one each of Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur.

Of the total seats, Congress has 36 seats while its main challenger BJP has 40 seats. The fifth phase of polling was the largest single-day in the nine-phased election exercise and electoral fates of 1,769 candidates. Viewed as a high stakes day by both BJP and its allies, which hold 46 seats and Congress and its partners having 43 seats, Thursday's polling may decide which party will lead the race to form the next government. Polling in Uttar Pradesh decided the fate of 150 candidates, including Maneka Gandhi, Santosh Gangwar, Saleem Sherwani and Begum Noor Bano. West Bengal holds the key to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's bid to position herself as a key player in government-formation at the Centre in the event of a fractured mandate.

Over 54 per cent polling was registered in seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, another electorally key state, today while 62 percent turnout was reported in six constituencies in adjacent Jharkhand despite Maoists' boycott call. With completion of polling in the fifth phase, the exercise crossed the half way mark in the nine phased elections to 543-member Lok Sabha. Polling has already been completed in 111 seats in the earlier four phases in which voter turnout in most states has been higher than in 2009.