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Heavy turnout of voters in assembly poll, 12 killed

In Assam, where polling took place under the spectre of United Liberation Front of Assam violence, 65%of the voters came out to exercise their franchise defying the threats by militant outfits.

Kerala registered the highest turnout (73%) among the five states, followed by West Bengal (71%), Pondicherry (65%) and Tamil Nadu (58), Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told reporters in Delhi.

In Assam, where 37 people were killed in the run up to the election, poll-related violence on Thursday claimed six lives, including those of four security personnel, while five persons, including three Trinamul Congress and a Communist Party of India-Marxist worker, were killed in neighbouring West Bengal.

Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee did not cast her vote in Calcutta as she had been camping in far-away Midnapore, scene of violence between supporters of her party and the CPI(M), to ensure that Trinamul activists were not prevented from exercising their franchise.

A CPI(M) activist was killed in violence-prone Kannur district of Kerala, allegedly by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh cadres.

MORE REPORTS ON THE POLLS
9 killed as 60 pc vote in Assam
Police open fire at two places in WB, CPI-M supporter killed
55 pc polling in violence-free TN elections
Karunanidhi, Jaya hopeful of victory
About 70 pc polling in Kerala

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