60% voting in fifth phase of LS polls

45.1 crore voters, representing 66.95% turnout, franchised their votes in the first four phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections…reports Asian Lite News

The fifth phase of polling for Lok Sabha polls across 49 parliamentary constituencies spread over six states and two Union Territories (UTs) on Monday saw a voter turnout of 60.09 per cent till 11:30 pm, the Election Commission (ECI) said.

According to ECI data, Bihar recorded 54.85 per cent voter turnout, while Jammu and Kashmir recorded 56.73 per cent turnout till 11.30 pm. Similarly, Jharkhand recorded 63.07 per cent voter turnout, Ladakh 69.62 per cent, Maharashtra 54.29 per cent, Odisha 67.59 per cent, Uttar Pradesh at 57.79 and West Bengal 74.65 per cent.

About 2.5 crore more Indian voters have exercised their franchise so far in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as compared to 2019, according to a SBI Research report, that cited Election Commission data.

45.1 crore voters, representing 66.95 per cent of turnout, franchised their votes in the first four phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Percentage-wise, the voter turnout is less than 68.15 per cent recorded after the first four phases of the 2019 elections.

There was a clash reported between Congress and BJP workers during the ongoing voting in Little Angel School, located in the Sion area of Mumbai.

BJP workers claimed that they were giving voting slips to voters 100 meters away from the polling centre, on which Congress officials accused BJP people were interfering in the voting process by going near the polling centre.

After which Congress and BJP workers came face to face and BJP claimed that they even threatened to kill two people.”Based on the complaint of a BJP worker, Sion police registered a case against two unknown people under section 506(2) of IPC and started further investigation,” Mumbai Police said.

With the conclusion of phase 5, polling for General Elections 2024 is now completed in 25 States/UTs and 428 PCs. Polling is also complete in General Elections for State Legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and 63 assembly seats of Odisha State Assembly.

The sixth phase polling is scheduled on May 25 in 58 PCs (including the adjourned poll in Anantnag-Rajouri PC) in 8 States/UTs.

General elections are being held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1 with votes for the 543 Lok Sabha seats to be counted on June 4.

The voter turnout in Baramulla was 5.48 per cent in 1989, 46.65 per cent in 1996, 41.94 per cent in 1998, 27.79 per cent in 1999, 35.65 per cent in 2004, 41.84 per cent in 2009, 39.14 per cent in 2014 and 34.6 per cent in 2019.

The Commission has enabled Kashmiri migrant voters residing at various relief camps in Delhi, Jammu, and Udhampur to also have the option of voting in person at designated special polling stations or using postal ballot. 21 special polling stations were established in Jammu, 1 in Udhampur, and 4 in Delhi.

Constituencies in various urban cities like Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Lucknow continued the trend of urban apathy as noticed in last General Election 2019.

In Mumbai, celebrities and common citizens alike, waited patiently for their turn to cast their vote and proudly showcased their inked fingers. Celebrities from various walks of life have partnered with the Commission to motivate voters to exercise their franchise in the General Elections 2024. Various such motivational videos were uploaded on their social media platforms.

With the conclusion of phase 5, polling for General Elections 2024 is now completed in 25 States/UTs and 428 PCs.

Polling is also complete in General Elections for State Legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and 63 assembly seats of Odisha State Assembly.

The sixth phase polling is scheduled on May 25 in 58 PCs (including the adjourned poll in Anantnag-Rajouri PC) in 8 States/UTs.

Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer PK Pole on Monday commended the high voter turnout, 54.49 pc, in the union territory in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

“I want to congratulate the people that despite all the difficulties they came to vote in such huge numbers. This is a hilly area and some are snowbound areas and despite all this, they came to cast their votes and created history. Nowhere was the polling slow. Earlier there used to be less polling. This time the polling staff has also been well trained,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer told ANI.

Voter turnout of 54.49% of was recorded in Jammu and Kashmir in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Polling took place in 2103 polling stations across the Baramulla Parliamentary constituency with live webcasting at the polling stations on Monday.

It is the first Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

CEC Rajiv Kumar along with fellow Election Commissioners Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu while appreciating the efforts of both civil and security personnel in the smooth and peaceful conduct of elections in J&K said that a clear message has been given that people of Jammu and Kashmir are eager to exercise franchise and have their stakes in the democratic system of governance.

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