Polling began in 49 constituencies across six states and two union territories in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday, which will decide the electoral fate of the likes of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, as well as former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.
Among the seats going to polls, 13 are in Maharashtra, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, five in Bihar, three in Jharkhand, five in Odisha, one in Jammu and Kashmir and the lone seat in Ladakh. Despite having the least number of seats out of the all the phases, this round is crucial for the BJP as more than 40 are held by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Union Minister Smriti Irani cast her first vote in Amethi this election. After casting her vote, Irani said, “Today it is my good fortune that I have cast my vote in my village Gauriganj with the resolve of a Viksit Bharat. I appeal to the people to cast their vote. It is our responsibility towards the future of our country.”
Political leaders such as BSP chief Mayawati and key candidates like Piyush Goyal; major names from Bollywood Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar; and industrialist Anil Ambani, came in early to cast their vote.
“I appeal to everyone to come out and cast their vote… I request all political parties to prioritise the issues of development and the welfare of the people. Whether it is the BJP or Congress, all the parties say that they are forming the government but everything will be clear when the results are announced…” Mayawati told news agency ANI after casting her vote.
“I am hopeful that there will be a change (in power) this time. I can sense that the public is silent and they are seeing all of this…” she added, when asked if there will be change in this election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in posts in different languages on X, urged voters to go out in large numbers and cast their vote. “As 49 seats across 8 states and UTs go to the polls today in the 5th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, urging all those whose constituencies are polling today to vote in record numbers…” he said.
As 49 seats across 8 states and UTs go to the polls today in the 5th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, urging all those whose constituencies are polling today to vote in record numbers. I specially call upon women voters and young voters to exercise their franchise.— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 20, 2024
Meanwhile, other prominent candidates in the fray include union ministers Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North, Maharashtra), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur, UP) and Shantanu Thakur (Bangaon, WB); LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan (Hajipur, Bihar), Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan, Maharashtra), and BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy and RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya (both Saran, Bihar).
More than 8.95 crore people, including 4.26 crore females and 5,409 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in this round and 9.47 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 94,732 polling stations. So far, the last four phases have registered a total voter turnout of 66.95 per cent.
At least 45.1 crore electors have exercised their franchise in the last four phases. Polling for 23 states and UTs as well as 379 seats has been completed so far. The sixth and seventh phases are on May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.
Here are updates on what the poll scenario looks like in fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections:
Bihar Lok Sabha Election 2024
Voting is taking place in Saran, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, Sitamarhi and Madhubani seats, which are all with the NDA. In Hajipur, the primary contest is between Chirag Paswan, whose late father Ram Vilas Paswan had won the seat eight times, and RJD’s Shiv Chandra Ram, a former MLA and ex-minister in the state. Former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy’s bid to score a hat-trick in Saran has been challenged by RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who had donated her kidney to her father.
Jammu and Kashmir Lok Sabha Election 2024
In Baramulla, besides Omar Abdullah, former separatist Sajad Lone, ex-MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias ‘Engineer Rashid’, presently lodged in the Tihar jail, and the PDP’s former Rajya Sabha member Fayaz Ahmad Mir are among the 21 others contesting. More than 500 centenarians are among the 17.37 lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise in the constituency, with political observers expecting a high turnout on the back of the huge crowds that thronged election rallies and roadshows in the first major political battle post the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Jharkhand Lok Sabha Election 2024
Voting in three constituencies Chatra, Koderma and Hazaribag and bypoll in Gandey assembly seat, where Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, is contesting, is taking place. An interesting fight is expected in the Koderma seat where Union minister and BJP candidate Annapurna Devi is up against Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation nominee Vinod Singh, an MLA from Bagodar assembly constituency.
Ladakh Lok Sabha Election 2024
Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal, BJP’s Tashi Gyalson, and Independent candidate and NC rebel Haji Hanifa Jan are locked in a keen contest.
Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election 2024
Polling is being held in 13 constituencies, including six in Mumbai. Piyush Goyal, Bharati Pawar (Dindori) and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi) are among the key nominees of the BJP, which has also fielded prominent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam (Mumbai North Central). Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan) and city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad (Mumbai North Central) are also among the candidates. With this, polling will conclude in the state in this election.
Odisha Lok Sabha Election 2024
Voting is also being held in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha, where BJD president and CM Naveen Patnaik is among the candidates. He is contesting from two assembly segments — Hinjili under the Aska Lok Sabha seat in Ganjam district and Kantabanji under the Bolangir parliamentary constituency. Apart from Patnaik, major contestants include around half a dozen Odisha ministers, BJP’s sitting MPs Jual Oram and Sangeeta Singh Deo, BJD MP Achyut Samant and former Indian Hockey captain Dilip Tirkey.
Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election 2024
Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Irani (Amethi), Jyoti, Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Jalaun) are the five union ministers in the fray. Voting is also underway for the assembly bypolls to the Lucknow East segment. Rahul Gandhi, who has contested from Wayanad in Kerala, is also in the fight for Raebareli, a Nehru-Gandhi family pocket borough represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi since 2004. The BJP has fielded UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh. In Amethi, Irani, who had defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019, is seeking a second term, while KL Sharma, a Gandhi aide, has been fielded by the Congress. Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh is eyeing a fourth term from Lucknow. He is up against SP MLA from Lucknow Central Ravidas Mehrotra. In the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, which covers the temple town of Ayodhya, the electoral contest is mainly between sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh, who is seeking a hat-trick, and Awadhesh Prasad, the SP MLA from Milkipur (SC) assembly segment.
West Bengal Lok Sabha Election 2024
Security has been stepped up in the state’s seven constituencies, which have a history of poll-related violence, with over 57 per cent of the stations identified as sensitive in this phase, the highest till now in this Lok Sabha election. More than 60,000 personnel of central forces and around 30,000 personnel of the state police, have been deployed, which is more than in the previous phases in the state, an official said. The BJP’s Arjun Singh, who has been in and out of the saffron party and the TMC on four occasions in the last five years, is taking on West Bengal minister Partha Bhowmick in Barrackpore in a bid to retain the seat he won in 2019. Actor Rachana Banerjee has been fielded by the TMC to stop actor and BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee from winning a straight second term from Hooghly. In Serampore, the TMC’s sitting MP Kalyan Banerjee is fighting against the BJP’s Kabir Shankar Bose.
(With PTI inputs)
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