India concluded the fourth and penultimate round of its month-long general elections on Today that saw 1,315 candidates locked in key battles as the two rival coalitions were neck and neck in the race to form a new government, according to dpa. Tight security was in place in New Delhi and the insurgency-hit, Indian-administered Kashmir, which were among the main areas that held polls for 85 of the 543 seats in parliament's Lok Sabha, or House of the People. Several political veterans, including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, were among the candidates in the latest round of the marathon five-stage elections, which began April 16 and end next Wednesday. India's President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, ruling United Progressive Alliance chairwoman Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi cast their votes. At the close of polling, India's Election Commission said an estimated 57 per cent of the 94.6 million registered voters had cast their ballots in seven states - Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh - and the federally administered territory of Delhi. Officials said the polls were largely peaceful as isolated violent incidents were reported from Rajasthan, West Bengal and Kashmir, claiming three lives and leaving 11 wounded. India's Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan said the turnout was 50 per cent in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 75 per cent in West Bengal, 63 per cent in Haryana and 65 per cent in Punjab. The voting percentage in Bihar was 37 per cent.
