At the end of the day that saw polls in 118 Lok Sabha seats scattered over 11 states, the death tally hovered around 30, with most of the deaths occurring in the extremist-scarred North-eastern states of Assam and Tripura.

It was also the day of reckoning for such high-profile combatants as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow and Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Amethi, in U.P. where despite predictions of violence, polling passed off peacefully.

Of course, there were the usual slew of accusations and counter-accusations of electoral malpractices by both the Congress and the BJP, but the Election Commission appeared to be relatively unexcited about the charges. ``We'll examine them as and when the complaints and the reports of the returning officers reach us,'' a relieved Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill told journalists.

As in theearlier four phases, voter turnout, reflecting a dwindling interest in the electoral process, was tentatively pegged at around 56 per cent. West Bengal registered a comparatively high 65 per cent voter turnout despite heavy downpours and widespread floods in many parts of the state.

But topping the national list in voter turnout was Lakshadweep with 82 per cent voters exercising their franchise.

Fourteen security personnel were among those killed in the Northeast in bomb attacks and an ambush by banned extremist groups. In Manipur, 16 people were killed including five CRPF personnel, in an ambush by the outlawed United National Liberation Front, though polling in the Outer Manipur seat is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

In Assam, ten security personnel were killed even as voters defied threats and intimidation given by the ULFA, and voted in large numbers. The voter turnout registered a moderate 55 per cent. Suspected Bodo rebels shot dead three Assam Police Task Force (APTF) jawans and two Home Guardspersonnel in Barpeta district early this morning, but that did not dampen voter turnout.

Despite the elaborate security arrangements made in Bihar, there were reports of booth capturing from the state. ``Shoot-at-sight'' orders failed to deter supporters of both the RJD and the JD(U) from indulging in booth capturing and intimidating voters, especially in the crucial Madhepura constituency where RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav of the JD(U), are pitted in a bitter battle. Clashes between the two sides resulted in the gunning down of a RJD block leader Kailash Prasad Gupta.

Sporadic incidents of looting of ballots and ballot boxes, pouring of ink into ballot boxes, explosions, shoot-outs, voter intimidation and booth capturing and the brandishing of arms and muscle, all a hallmark of polls in Bihar were in evidence today as well.

In contrast to the scene in Bihar, polling day in the 31 Lok Sabha remaining seats of UP saw comparatively little violence, a point which Gill emphasised. Otherprominent leaders in the fray in UP are former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar from Balia, the BSP's Mayawati from Akbarpur and Congress' Karan Singh who has challenged Vajpayee in Lucknow.

Voting also took place in the lone Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat, postponed from an earlier phase due to the killing of a candidate. There were reports of police firing in the air to quell restive political workers, but overall, polling in the constituency was a low key affair. The poll boycott threat by the banned People's War Group did not have much of an effect, with the voter turnout touching 60 per cent.

In West Bengal, where polling was held on a single day for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats, there were scattered incidents of violence, though polling remained largely peaceful. The poll boycott call issued by GNLF leader Subhas Gheising in protest against the lack of development in the hill district resulted in poor turnout in three Assembly segments of the Darjeeling Lok sabha seat. The lingering tail of the monsoon madeits mark and balloting in some 400 polling stations in the state were postponed to October 5 since neither poll officials nor voters could make their way to the polling stations due to floods.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's Calcutta south seat, former Union minister Indrajit Gupta's Midnapore, Somnath Chatterjee's traditional stronghold Bolpur and CPI veteran Gita Mukherjee's Panskura are the seats worth watching in the state. In neighbouring Orissa, polling for 11 seats passed off peacefully. ``Nothing to report,'' was how Gill dismissed the peaceful conduct of the polls in the state.

``Got through a big voting day,'' said Gill at the end of the mammoth exercise, though a few loose ends remain.

But the tangible sense of relief in the country will be shortlived, as the tension builds up for the next gigantic exercise: the counting of the votes and election results which commences on Wednesday.