High voter turnout witnessed in 121 constituencies

High turnout was witnessed in 121 constituencies which went to polls across 12 states in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections today 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 wernt 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 today 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.