Lok Sabha polls 2014: Ten killings in 6th phase first blot on elections

NEW DELHI: The trend of high voter turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections continued in the sixth phase of polling held on Thursday in 117 seats spanning 11 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Though polling was largely peaceful, it claimed ten lives across Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam. A presiding officer was killed in Anantnag in J&K. And at least eight polling and policemen were killed when suspected Maoists blew up their vehicle in Jharkhand's Dumka district. In Assam, a policeman was killed in Kokrajhar district when BSF men opened fire to control a crowd trying to capture a booth.

With the end of the sixth phase, polling has been completed for a total 349 Lok Sabha constituencies.

High voting is conventionally associated with anti-incumbency and BJP has used the turnout figures during ongoing polls to claim it is headed towards a majority.

Puducherry Sees Highest Voting
Puducherry, which has just one Lok Sabha seat, recorded the highest voter turnout of 83% on Thursday while West Bengal came a close second with 82% voting for the six seats where polling was held.

The sensitive seat of Anantnag in Jammu & Kashmir - from where PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti is contesting - recorded the lowest turnout of the day at 28%. But it was higher than the 2009 figure of 27%.

The single-phase polling for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu witnessed 73% voter turnout. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, DMK had bagged 18 seats and AIADMK nine. Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa is likely to win more seats this time around, according to poll projections.

Voting percentage in Bihar was 60% while it was 60.2% in Uttar Pradesh. Assam recorded 77.05% voting. But Rajasthan (59.2% voting for five seats) and Maharashtra (55.33% for 19 seats) failed to cross the 60% mark.