Brisk voting till noon in India fifth phase polls

In this round of the nine phase polls in India, 16.61 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots.

At least 40 percent polling was recorded in West Bengal in the first four hours of its first phase of vote on Thursday even as a few untoward incidents were reported, said officials.

In this phase polling is being held in four constituencies of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, all in north Bengal.

In Darjeeling the polling is nearly 40 percent in the first four hours while in Jalpaiguri district the balloting was 42 percent.

In Cooch Behar, where 42.5 percent polling was recorded, Forward Bloc alleged that Left Front agents were beaten up and in Dinhata a booth was captured by the ruling Trinamool Congress. The latter has rubbished the charge.

Among the seats going to polls on Thursday, eyes are on the contest in Darjeeling where the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has been demanding a separate Gorkhaland state.

BJP had won the seat last time with Jaswant Singh, who has now been expelled from the party for contesting polls from Barmer against the wishes of the party, winning it in 2009.

There are a total of 47 candidates in the fray in this phase with an electorate of 60,14,258 voters.

In neigbouring Odisha the polling was nearly 25 percent till noon while Bihar witnessed nearly 20 percent voting till the same time. In Jharkhand the turnout was nearly 14 percent in the morning but later it picked up around noon.

According to the Election Commission (EC) figures, Patna Sahib and Buxar witnessed 10% voter turnout till 10 am in Bihar, while Munger and Jehanabad registered 9% turnout each till that time.

As many as 11,85,07,86 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across 11,846 polling stations in Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Nalanda, Jehanabad, Munger, Ara and Buxar Lok Sabha constituencies.

There are a total of 117 candidates in the fray, including four BJP candidates - RK Singh (Ara), Ashwini Choubey (Buxar), Shatrughan Sinha (Patna Sahib) and Ram Kripal Yadav (Pataliputra).

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti from from Pataliputra.

In Bangalore all eyes are on seats like Bangalore South even as Karnataka witnessed nearly 25 percent polling till noon.

Infosys man Nandan Nilekani, who is fighting the polls as a Congress candidate from Bangalore South seat, is hopeful of winning riding on a Parivartan (change) in Karnataka.

"The voter turnout is hight. I am happy about it," said Nilekani who is pitted against BJP's  Ananth Kumar

The Infosys co-founder said: "I think there will be a Parivartan [change] and I have confidence."

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also fielded child rights activist Nina Nayak as their candidate from the seat.

Five-time MP Ananth Kumar, meanwhile, said the Congress candidate would lose owing to the baggage of UPA mis-governance in the past ten years.

Kumar is hoping on a Narendra Modi wave.

Former state chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Shimoga, BS Yeddyurappa, on Thursday said he is confident of winning minimum 15 seats in the state.

"People are happy with my developmental works here. We are confident to win minimum 15 to 20 seats," Yeddyurappa said after casting his ballot in the fifth phase of the General Elections.

Brisk polling was witnessed in Karnataka where all 28 seats are going to polls in a single phase on Thursday.

Besides Yeddyurappa (Shimoga), Union Minister and Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapur) is also trying his luck in this phase.

In Maharashtra, Union Home Minister and Congress candidate from Maharashtra's Solapur, Sushilkumar Shinde, on Thursday said BJP prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should limit himself to his state only.

About 3,24,27,558 voters in  western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Konkan region constituencies are eligible to  votes in this second phase of polling in the state. A total of 19 seats are up for grabs to decide the fate of 358 candidates. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan is another major contender.

After casting his vote in the fifth phase of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Shinde said: "Modi is always criticizing others. He should first speak of his own deeds as the Gujarat CM. It is better for him to limit himself to Gujarat only."

Confident of his win, Shinde said: "The people of Solapur have always supported me and I am sure they will support me this time as well."

He denied any "Modi wave" in Solapur and said: "Here we have no influence of Modi. If there is any influence of anyone here, it is that of Sushilkumar Shinde."

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, who is contesting from Pune's Baramati, on Thursday said she has full faith in her voters.

"I have full faith in my voters as we have put together good work in last five years," Sule said after casting her vote.

She also said irrespective of the outcome of the elections, the Congress-NCP alliance will continue after polls as well.

Among the other states, 22 per cent polling was witnessed in the 10 seats of Madhya Pradesh.

In Rajasthan the polling till noon was 20.67 per cent with eyes set on the Barmer seat where 25.19 per cent polling was recorded.

Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who is contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent from Barmer constituency, on Thursday said he is confident to win by a huge margin.

"The response and support I have got today is incredible.  I am confident to win from Barmer by a huge margin," said Singh.

He also denied a "Narendra Modi wave" in Barmer. "Here we have no Modi wave," he said.

The polling was brisk in Uttar Pradesh too. BJP leader Maneka Gandhi from Pilibhit is a candidate to watch out for in this round when 11 seats are being fought by 150 candidates.

Till 12 noon the polling was around 30 percent in Uttar Pradesh.

Fifth Phase at a Glance:

28 seats in Karnataka, 20 seats in Rajasthan, 19 seats in Maharashtra , 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 11 seats in Odisha, 10 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 7 in Bihar, 6 in Jharkhand, 4 in West Bengal, 3 in Chhattisgarh, 1 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1 in Manipur