Polling for the fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is underway on Monday for 49 seats in eight Indian states and two union territories. Polling began at 7 am (IST) and ended at 6 pm.
The stakes are high in the fifth phase of polling as many high-profile candidates are in the fray, including federal ministers Rajnath Singh from Lucknow (capital of Uttar Pradesh), Smriti Irani from Amethi, Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah from Baramulla, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rohini Acharya and several others.
The constituencies going to polls include 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Maharashtra, seven in West Bengal, five each in Bihar and Odisha, three in Jharkhand and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Over 89.5 million electors, including 46.9 million men and 42.6 million women and 5,409 third gender voters, are eligible to vote in the fifth phase today and around 947,000 polling officials have been deployed at 94,732 polling stations.
Apart from 49 Lok Sabha seats, 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha are also going to poll today.
After a slight increase in the fourth phase, the voter turnout in the fifth phase remained sluggish as it was recorded at 56.68 per cent till 5 pm.
Voters turned out in large numbers in Ladakh as it recorded the highest voter turnout of 56.68 per cent (as of 5 pm), followed by West Bengal (73 per cent), Jharkhand (61.90 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (55.80 per cent), Odisha (60.55 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (54.21 per cent), Bihar (52.35 per cent) and the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Maharashtra (48.66 per cent).
BJP's Big Win in 2019 Lok Sabha Polls in 5th Phase
In the fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had secured a massive victory winning 32 seats, while its allies won seven seats, whereas the Congress had managed to win only Raebareli out of the total 49 seats.
The BJP secured more than 40 per cent of the vote in at least 30 seats and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 39 seats, while the parties in the newly formed I.N.D.I.A. bloc won only eight seats, with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) winning the remaining two seats in 2019.
With voting in 49 seats, the election for more than three-quarters of the 543 Lok Sabha seats (428 seats) will be over by the fifth phase of voting.
The remaining two phases will be held on 25 May and 1 June. The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections will take place on 4 June.