The general observers in Lok Sabha seats of Dumdum in West Bengal and Balasore in Orissa have been replaced by two substitute observers, Commission sources here said.

The two observers, who are senior officers in Uttar Pradesh, had taken with them their families in violation of strict instructions of the Commission which had been in force since the last elections, they said adding the Chief electoral officers of states and Union territories were keeping a close vigil on the conduct of total of 2200 observers appointed by the three-member panel.

Meanwhile, the Commission said that average turnout for the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls on September five and 11 was 59.33 per cent with the first phase recording 58.17 per cent and the second phase 60.49 per cent.

The average turnoutfor the first two phases is higher than the 58 per cent recorded in 1996, the sources said, adding the panel was keeping a watch on the turnout as the more populous states of UP, Bihar and West Bengal would be going to the polls in the third, fourth and fifth phases. The turnout in the 1998 elections was 62 per cent.