The Election Commission, however, said the polls were peaceful across the state with a voter turnout of 75 per cent till 5 pm.

Polling parties and materials were taken by choppers to 126 polling stations in Singhbhum, Election Commission (EC) officials said, adding that about a 100 polling parties were sent via a special train from Chakradharpur to Rourkela and then onward to other destinations, often travelling by foot to reach remote areas.

As the sun ascended on Monday, Birbhum and Bardhaman-Durgapur became battlegrounds where the clash of political wills between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) transformed into physical confrontations, leaving the democratic exercise marred and bruised.

Voters were able to cast votes after district authorities responded quickly to reports of Maoists blocking a road with a felled tree near Sonapi that leads to booth numbers 24 and 25 in Chotanagar police station area, which collectively accommodate 1,522 voters.

Approximately 95.85 lakh electors are eligible to exercise their franchise across 5,398 polling stations, officials said.

The PM is scheduled to address election rallies in favour of NDA nominees in Hajipur, Muzaffarpur and Saran today.

Maoist-hit Singhbhum seat saw about 12.67 per cent voter turnout till 9 am while the same was at 12.20 per cent, about 10.97 per cent and 11.47 per cent in Khunti, Lohardaga and Palamu seats, respectively.

Mintu Sheikh was cycling home on Sunday night when a crude bomb was hurled at him.

The fortunes of 45 candidates, including Union Minister and BJP leader Arjun Munda, are tied up in today's poll, in which the highest number of 15 contestants are in Lohardaga, followed by Singhbhum (14), Palamu (9), and Khunti (7).

Polling commenced at 7 am in Begusarai, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Munger and Darbhanga and will continue till 6 pm, a senior official said.

The constituencies going to polls in the fourth phase include Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat (SC), Bardhaman Purba (SC), Bardhaman-Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur (SC), and Birbhum.

East Zone Lok Sabha seats to witness polling on May 13- West Bengal: 8; Jharkhand: 4; Bihar: 5; Odisha: 4