Voting began on Thursday across eight states and union territories to elect 85 MPs in the fourth and penultimate round of Lok Sabha elections.

As many as 9.46 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase, in which 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray.

Delhi [Images]
Delhiites turned up in substantial numbers early in the morning to cast their votes at the seven Lok Sabha constituencies.

As soon as voting began at 7 am, hundreds of people reached the polling booths apparently to avoid heat. Up to 10 per cent polling was witnessed in the first two hours in several areas, including Delhi Cantonment, Mongolpuri, Patparganj and Vinod Nagar.

Among the early voters were Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Priyanka Gandhi [Images] and Union minister Kapil Sibal.

Priyanka along with her husband Robert voted at the Vidyabhavan Mahavidyalaya booth at Lodhi estate, 20 metres from her 35 Lodhi Estate residence. Wearing a blue top and black jeans, she came to the booth at around 7.10 am to exercise her franchise.

Asked whether Congress will win all the seven seats in the capital, a beaming Priyanka said, "I certainly hope so".

In Jamia Nagar, where a gunbattle in September last year between suspected Indian Mujahideen [Images] terrorists and police created ripples in the area, the polling began on a slow note in the morning.

A substantial number of policemen were posted near the polling booth in Jamia Nagar and strict checkings were done by security personnel.

Deputy Chief Electoral Officer J K Sharma said there were complaints of non-functioning of EVMs in two polling booths in Laxmi Nagar area of East Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

There were also reports of non-functioning of EVMs in a polling booth in Kamla Market of Chandni Chowk seat. An 81-year-old woman was one of the early voters at the Nirman Bhavan polling booth, a VIP polling booth in the capital where political heavyweights are exercising their franchise.

Jammu & Kashmir
Polling began on a dull note in Srinagar [Images] parliamentary constituency amid tight security arrangements in view of the 50-hour strike and poll boycott call given by separatists.

Ahead of the commencement of polling, a petrol bomb was hurled at a polling booth set up inside a private school on the outskirts of the city but it exploded in the compound of the institute. No one was hurt in the incident.

Polling started at 7 am with almost all the polling stations wearing a deserted look during the first half-an-hour even as a bright sun shone after cloudy weather for the last four days.

Spread over three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, Srinagar parliamentary constituency has 11 lakh voters who will decide the fate of National Conference President Farooq Abdullah [Images] and 14 other contestants.

Among the formidable opponents of Abdullah are PDP's Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari and his estranged sister Begum Khalida Shah, president of Awami National Conference.

Polling is also being held in Sonawar assembly constituency of Srinagar. The bye-poll was necessitated as the seat was vacated by NC president Farooq Abdullah following his election to the Rajya Sabha. Three candidates are in the fray.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Omar Abdullah [Images] of NC had defeated his PDP rival Ghulam [Images] Nabi Lone by a margin of 23,169 votes. The total poll percentage then was 18.57.

Srinagar usually witness low turnout, which was evident in last year's assembly elections when only 21.93 per cent of the 5.60 lakh electorate cast their votes.

Tight Security ring has been thrown around 1,483 polling stations including 665 hyper-sensitive booths set up across the constituency to instill confidence among the voters to exercise their franchise in the constituency.

Even as authorities placed the entire separatist leadership including chairmen of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani [Images] and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and JKLF chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik under house arrest to scuttle their anti-election campaign, the separatists called for a 50-hour strike against the elections.

Punjab
Polling began at 7am for four Lok Sabha seats, including hyper-sensitive constituencies of Bhatinda and Patiala, in Punjab on a sedate note.

While the Congress is optimistic in improving its tally, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance is hopeful to repeat the performance of 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Presently the Congress has two seats whereas the SAD-BJP alliance 11 out of the total 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

About 52.75 lakh voters would seal the fate of 79 candidates, including three women and 37 independents for the four seats of Bhatinda, Patiala, Ferozepur and Sangrur which have considerable clout of Dera Sacha Sauda sect.

Haryana
Polling for ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana began on Wednesday morning during which fate of prominent leaders, including Bhajan Lal will be decided.

Voting for the ten seats, with 210 candidates in fray, would end at 1700 hrs. About 1.20 crore voters are eligible to cast their franchise across 12,894 polling stations, where ballots would be cast electronically.

Apart from 78-year-old Lal, who is fighting polls on his son Kuldeep Bishnoi led Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) party from Hisar, the other key contestants whose fate would be sealed on Wednesday include Union Ministers Selja and Rao Inderjit Singh, both Congress from Ambala (SC) and Gurgaon respectively, industrialist Navin Jindal (Congress, Kurukshetra), Haryana INLD President Ashok Arora (Kurukshetra), former cricketer Chetan Sharma (BSP, Faridabad) and INLD Secretary General Ajay Singh Chautala (Bhiwani Mahendragarh).

The 210 candidates include 14 women and 117 independents. The four main contenders the ruling Congress, the opposition BJP-INLD alliance, newly formed Haryana Janhit Congress BL and the BSP have put up candidates on all the 10 seats.

Bihar
Polling began in Pataliputra, Patna Saheb and Nalanda Lok Sabha seats at 7 am amid tight security and shoot at sight orders.

Prominent candidates in the fray today are RJD president and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad (Pataliputra), BJP's actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha [Images] and TV star Shekhar Suman [Images] of Congress (Patna Saheb).

''The polling is reported to be peaceful with para-military personnel guarding the booths,'' Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani said. Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) comprising jawans of ITBP, CRPF, BSF, Bihar Military Police and District Armed Police were seen guarding the polling stations and patrolling the roads in the three constituencies.

Aerial patrolling is being conducted in Naxal-affected areas and mounted police and security personnel are patrolling the riverine areas in mechanised boats, official sources said.

The borders of Patna district have been sealed to prevent entry of anti-socials, the sources said adding about 1000 digital cameras have been installed and 1050 micro observers deployed to keep a tab on trouble makers.

A little over 48.92 lakh voters are eligible to choose from among 57 candidates, including four women -- two each in Nalanda and Pataliputra.

The voting time for Islampur and Hilsa assembly segments in Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency and Masaurhi and Paliganj of Pataliputra have been reduced by two hours due to threat from CPI-Maoist rebels, who have given a poll boycott call.