Over 41.2 pc polling recorded in West Bengal, 18% in Bihar

Over 41 per cent turnout was recorded in the initial hours in 17 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and about 18 per cent in six constituencies of Bihar.

On an average 41.2 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of polling, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said.

Thirteen persons were injured in a clash between CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress supporters at Haroa in North 24 Parganas district, under Minakha assembly segment of Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, police said.

Stating that voting was peaceful, Gupta said the polling percentage was very good in the first four hours and a large number voters were in queue in most polling stations.Some EVMs had to be replaced after mock polling.

Polling was being held for Berhampore, Krishnagar, Ranaghat, Bongaon, Barrackpore, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata (South), Kolkata (North), Tamluk, Contai and Ghatal.

Altogether 188 candidates were in the fray, prominent candidates were TMC's Sudip Bandyopadhyay in Kolkata North, Dinesh Trivedi in Barrackpore and Sougata Roy in Dum Dum, besides celebrities like Dipak Adhikari (Dev) in Ghatal and Tapas Paul in Krishnagar.
Trinamool Yuva President Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata Banerjee, was contesting from Diamond Harbour.

BJP's candidate magician P C Sorcar (Junior) was in the fray in Barasat, WBPCC President Adhir Chowdhury in Berhampore and CPI(M)'s Subhasini Ali from Barrackpore.

Also contesting was former finance minister Asim Dasgupta of the CPI-M and former union minister Tapan Sikdar of the BJP in Dum Dum.

About 18 per cent polling was recorded till 10:00 am in six constituencies in Bihar.While Valmikinagar and West Champaran and Siwan recorded 16 per cent votes, East Champaran registered 15 per cent, Vaishali 23 per cent and Gopalganj (SC) 20 per cent, an Election Commission statement said.

Film-maker Prakash Jha and former Union Minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh were among the 90 candidates contesting.

The Election Commission reduced the duration of polling by two hours in five assembly segments in view of perceived Maoist threat.