NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW/KOLKATA/PATNA : A 55.29 per cent voter turnout was recorded for 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, while West Bengal witnessed 79.03 per cent and 54 per cent for six seats in Bihar, up from 44 per cent in 2009.
Polling for 543 Lok Sabha seats came to an end with the completion of voting for 41 Lok Sabha seats in the ninth and final phase.
“UP saw a polling percentage of 55.29.”We expect it to go up,” the Election Commission said.
EC said 55.34 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Varanasi, where BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is locked in a triangular contest with Ajay Rai of Congress and Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party.
In 2009, Varanasi recorded 43.34 percent.
Azamgarh, where SP chieftain Mulayam Singh Yadav was in the fray, recorded turnout of 57 per cent as compared to 44.19 per cent in 2009.
The turnout in 17 constituencies of West Bengal was 79.3 per cent, which is expected to go up.
Varanasi turned into a fortress as voters thronged to polling booths to chose among Mr Modi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and Ajay Rai of the ruling Congress.
The elections were, by and large peaceful, though cases of violence in West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam were reported.
May 16 is set for the verdict.
The electoral fest involved enthusiastic participation of the people, which once again came as testimony of the maturity of the country’s democratic institutions and proof of inculcation of a democratic culture in its polity.
There were over two crore 31 lakh voters between the age of 18 and 19 out of a total of over 81 crore voters in this elections. Women voters formed 47.6 per cent of the total.
For the first time in Lok Sabha elections, voters were given the option of ‘None of the Above’ if they did not like any of the candidates contesting.
The 2014 elections are also marked by the effect the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create a separate state of Telengana had on political equations in the southern state, with voters and political parties clearly aligned for and along the historic but controversial decision.
Varanasi Congress candidate Ajay Rai was booked under section 126 and 130 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 for sporting party symbol while voting at Ramnagar polling booth.
Also, several voters in the Pilikothi area staged a demonstration before the polling booth after their names were found missing from the voters list.
Police used mild force to disperse the agitated people. One person was injured in a clash outside a polling booth at Saiyedraja area in Chandauli Lok Sabha seat.
BJP’s Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur, UP Assembly speaker and SP candidate Mata Prasad Pandey from Doomariaganj, Union Minister of State for Home and Congress candidate R P N Singh from Kushinagar are among the prominent contenders.
More than 79 per cent votes were cast in West Bengal as 17 constituencies went to the last round of Lok Sabha polls, marked by scattered violence and allegations of rigging.
The final leg of polling also recorded high turnout as voters flocked in huge numbers.
Complaints of booth capturing, attack on opposition party supporters trickled in from Duttapukur, Dum Dum, Khardaha, Sodepur, Tiljala, Bhangar, Sashan, Canning, Barrackpore, Ghatal, Kolkata’s Burrabazar area and few other places as the opposition Left Front and Congress alleged police inaction and inadequate security measures by the Election Commission.
A report from South 24 Parganas said 21 people, including two women, were seriously injured when miscreants attacked them on their way to polling booths at Bhrahmanchak village triggering high tension in the area.
The attackers, allegedly belonging to the ruling Trinamool Congress, opened fire, hurled bombs and pounced upon the voters with choppers, iron rods and sticks.
Four of the victims, all stated to be CPI(M) supporters, were shot at while the rest either received splinter injuries or were hacked and severely beaten up.
About 54 per cent electorate exercised their franchise despite scorching heat in six Lok Sabha seats where polling was held for the sixth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.
An FIR was registered against JD(U) MLA Amrendra Pandey for allegedly thrashing a voter in Gopalganj Lok Sabha seat.
In East Champaran, 44 per cent votes were polled while 43 pc was in West Champaran LS seat, 41.75 pc in Siwan and 39 pc in Gopalganj LS seat.
The Lok Sabha seats where polling was held are– Valmikinagar, West Champaran, East Champaran, Vaishali, Gopalganj and Siwan Lok Sabha seats. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel