Voting for the 5th phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended on Monday, covering 49 parliamentary constituencies across eight States and Union Territories. This phase saw a voter turnout of 57.51 percent. Additionally, polling concluded for 35 Assembly constituencies in Odisha.
West Bengal led with the highest voter turnout at 73 percent. Ladakh followed with 67.15 percent, while Jharkhand saw 63 percent. Odisha recorded a 60.72 percent turnout, Uttar Pradesh 57.79 percent, Jammu and Kashmir 54.67 percent, Bihar 52.60 percent, and Maharashtra had the lowest at 49.01 percent.
Mumbai’s voter turnout remained below 50 percent until 7 pm. Mumbai North had a turnout of 46.91 percent, North Central 47.46 percent, North East 48.67 percent, North West 49.79 percent, South 44.63 percent, and South Central 48.26 percent.
Several Bollywood celebrities were seen voting, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Ranbir Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, and Deepika Padukone.
Polling began at 7 AM and ended at 6 PM. Over 8.95 crore voters were eligible to vote in this phase, including 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5,409 third-gender electors. A total of 695 candidates were in the fray.
Key political figures contested in this phase, including Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Chirag Paswan, Omar Abdullah, and Rohini Acharya.
The fifth phase covered eight states and Union Territories: Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Major cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Lucknow also voted in this phase. Of the 49 seats, Uttar Pradesh had 14, Maharashtra 13, West Bengal 7, Bihar 5, Jharkhand 3, Odisha 5, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
To ensure peaceful voting, 2,000 flying squads, 2,105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams monitored the polling stations. In addition, 216 international border check posts and 565 inter-state border check posts were set up to prevent the illegal flow of liquor, drugs, cash, and freebies. Sea and air routes were also closely monitored.
Around 451 million people have already voted in the first four phases of the ongoing general elections. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has collaborated with prominent figures to encourage voter participation.
Polling for the state legislative assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh has also been completed.
The remaining phases of the elections will continue until June 1, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4.
Comments