More than 59 per cent exercised their franchise in the seventh and final phase of voting in 57 constituencies in eight States and Union Territories in the 18th Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on the largest electoral exercise in the world.

The polling was reported to be by and large peaceful.

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Of the 57 parliamentary seats in the seventh phase, 13 each from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine from West Bengal, eight from Bihar, six from Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh, three from Jharkhand and one from Chandigarh.

According to the data issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its voter turnout app, the polling percentage was recorded at 59.14 per cent. West Bengal recorded the highest turnout at 69.89 per cent, followed by Jharkhand at 69.03 per cent and Himachal Pradesh at 67.39 per cent.

Chandigarh registered 62.80 per cent turnout and Uttar Pradesh 55.60 per cent, as per the data of the poll panel.

The fates of 904 candidates were sealed in the EVMs. Prominent candidates from the BJP are Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi, UP), Union minister Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib, Bihar) and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi, Himachal Pradesh); while from the Congress is Manish Tewari (Chandigarh), Vikramaditya Singh (Mandi) and Ajay Rai (Varanasi).

Other prominent candidates are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti (Pataliputra, Bihar) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour, West Bengal).

Elections also took place for the 42 Assembly constituencies in fourth and last phase of the Odisha Assembly simultaneously. As per the data of the poll panel, Odisha recorded 63.18 per cent turnout.

The Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases between 19th April and 1st June. The first phase of polling was held on 19th April, second phase on 26th April, third phase on 7th May, fourth phase on 13th May, fifth phase on 20th May and sixth phase on 25th May.

The first phase recorded 66.14 percent voter turnout, second 66.71 percent, third 65.68 per cent, fourth 69.16 per cent, fifth phase 62.2 percent and sixth phase 63.37 per cent.

Counting will take place on 4th June.