Over 41 per cent polling recorded in West Bengal till 11 AM

KOLKATA: Over 41 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 11:00 am in 17 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the fifth and final phase today.

"On an average 41.2 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of polling," state Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta 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 are in the fray. Security was stepped up for this phase by the Election Commission following pre-poll violence in the last two days.

Arrangements were made for web casting and live monitoring of sensitive areas amid tight security provided by central forces which was more than double that of the 2011 Assembly elections.