A voter turnout of 60.5% was recorded in the fifth phase of elections held on Monday, covering 49 parliamentary constituencies in 6 states and 2 Union Territories, where more than 53 million people exercised their adult franchise. West Bengal had the highest turnout of 75.9%, while the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Maharashtra, 54.3%. Interestingly, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, a polling percentage of 59% was recorded till 5 pm, breaking the previous record of 46.65% recorded in 1996. As voting for Phase 5 has been concluded, all eyes are now on Phase 6, which will be held on May 25, covering 58 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 6 states and two UTs. All the 7 seats in Delhi and all the 10 seats in Haryana will go to polls in this phase.
The fifth phase, the smallest among all the phases of the Lok Sabha polls, saw a string of high-profile seats such as Amethi, Rae Bareli, and Lucknow going into the polls. Six constituencies in India’s financial capital Mumbai also went into polls, which witnessed popular Bollywood celebrities Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Kareena Kapoor, along with singer Shankar Mahadevan and actor Ranbir Kapoor, casting their votes.
Meanwhile, in J&K’s Baramulla constituency, zero violence was reported amidst the voting, asserted the chief electoral officer of J&K, PK Pole. An unprecedented number of women, relatives of active militant groups, and cadres of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) also turned up to cast their votes. In 2019, Baramulla had recorded a voter turnout of 34.6 percent. In the 2014 general elections, the poll percentage was 39.14 percent
Some of the key candidates in the fray in phase 5 are Union Ministers Piyush Goyal from Northern Mumbai, Smriti Irani from Amethi, and Rajnath Singh from Lucknow. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in the fray from Raebareli, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah is fighting from Baramulla, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya is contesting from Saran, while Shiv Sena-UBT leader Arvind Sawant is contesting from Mumbai South.
Now that the five phases have concluded voting so far, all eyes are now on Phase 6 of the Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to take place on May 25. In this phase, a total of 58 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 6 states and two Union territories will go to polls. Essentially, polling will also be held in Jammu & Kashmir’s Anantnag and Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency on May 25. The ECI had revised the polling date for these two constituencies from May 7 to May 25 due to logistical, communication, and natural barriers related to connectivity.
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