57% turnout in fourth phase of polling, 4 killed

At least four persons were killed -- three of them in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan -- as stray violence, police firing and booth-capturing attempts marred the fourth phase of polling in Lok Sabha elections which saw a turnout of 57 per cent of nearly 95 million voters.

A member of a political party was reportedly shot dead in Nandigram in West Bengal but there was no official confirmation of this, Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters here.

A CPI(M) worker was killed in a bomb attack by unidentified persons in Jangipur, where Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee is in fray and a voter was killed and eight persons, including three policemen, were injured in Asansol Lok Sabha constituency in Burdwan district when armed men opened fire.

One person--stated to be a CPI(M) worker--was killed in an attack allegedly by Trinamool Congress at Amta of Howrah district after the polling. Amta CPI(M) MLA Prattyush Mukherjee claimed the deceased was his party activist.

One person was killed when paramilitary personnel opened fire to prevent a mob from capturing a booth at Olwara village in Rajasthan's Sawaimadhopur district.

Despite the violence, West Bengal, where 17 constituencies went to poll in the fourth phase, drew the highest voter turnout--75 per cent--followed by Punjab (65 per cent), Haryana (63 per cent), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (50 per cent each).

To a question on CPI(M) demand for a repoll in some polling stations in West Bengal, Balakrishnan said decision would be taken after examining reports submitted by the Returning Officers and observers.

Delhi, where seven seats are up for grab, saw a turnout of 50 per cent, outdoing Mumbai where the turnout was a little over 40 per cent.

Among the early voters were President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Union Minister Kapil Sibal.

BJP President Rajnath Singh (Ghaziabad), SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri), RJD supremo Lalu Prasad (Pataliputra), RLD chief Ajit Singh and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar) besides Pranab Mukherjee are the big names contesting in this phase.

Polling for Srinagar constituency, where Abdullah is in fray, evoked a voters response of 24 percent despite a boycott call by separatists, as against 11.93 per cent turnout in 1999 elections.

Balakrishnan said the poll process was totally peaceful in Uttar Pradesh barring an incident of forcible voting in a polling station in Agra parliamentary constituency.