Lok Sabha elections 2024: The stage is set for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 49 constituencies in six states and two UTs. The voters will decide the electoral fate of several prominent leaders like former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani and 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. This round covers the least number of seats (49) in the seven-phase elections.
It is another important phase for the BJP as over 40 of these seats were with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
On the eve of poling, the Election Commission on Sunday pointed out that Mumbai, Thane and Lucknow have shown apathy towards voting in the past and asked city dwellers there to turn out in higher numbers.
The poll authority noted that in the past these cities have “suffered” from urban apathy in voting. “The Commission especially calls upon these city dwellers to erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers,” it said.
So far, the last four phases have registered a total voter turnout of 66.95 per cent.
Bigwigs in fifth phase of poll fray
Other prominent candidates 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).
Voting in Union Territories
In Baramulla, besides Omar Abdullah, former separatist Sajad Lone, ex-MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias ‘Engineer Rashid’, currently 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.
In Ladakh, Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal, BJP’s Tashi Gyalson, and Independent candidate and NC rebel Haji Hanifa Jan are locked in a keen contest.
Voting in Jharkhand’s three seats
Voting in three Jharkhand Lok Sabha constituencies — Chatra, Koderma and Hazaribag — and by-election in Gandey assembly seat, where Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, is contesting, will take place on Monday.
An interesting fight is expected in the Koderma Lok Sabha 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.
Odisha Lok Sabha, Assembly elections
Tight security arrangements have been made, with the deployment of over 33,000 personnel, for elections to five Lok Sabha and 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha, officials said. Over 70. 69 lakh voters, including 40. 33 lakh men, 39. 35 lakh women and 851 transgender persons, are eligible to cast their votes at 9,162 polling stations in Aska, Kandhamal, Bargarh, Bolangir and Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituencies, and 35 assembly seats falling under these parliamentary constituencies, in the second phase of polls in the state.
A total of 40 candidates are in the fray for the five Lok Sabha seats, while 265 nominees, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, will try their luck in the 35 assembly segments. Patnaik is contesting from two assembly segments — Hinjili under Aska Lok Sabha seat in Ganjam district and Kantabanji under Bolangir parliamentary constituency – around 400 km apart. Apart from Patnaik, major contestants whose electoral fate would be decided on Monday 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.
Polling in 13 seats in Maharashtra
Polling in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, including six in Mumbai, will be held on Monday in the fifth and last phase of general elections in the state. More than 2.46 crore persons are eligible to cast vote and decide the fate of 264 candidates in Mumbai North, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai South, Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Palghar, Nashik, Dindori and Dhule seats.
Union ministers Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Bharati Pawar (Dindori) and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi) are among the key nominees of the BJP, which has also fielded lawyer Ujjwal Nikam (Mumbai North Central). Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan) and city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad (Mumbai North Central) are also in the fray.
80 candidates in fray across 5 seats in Bihar
Voting will take place across five Lok Sabha seats of Bihar, all currently held by the BJP-led NDA, when over 95 lakh voters will decide the fate of 80 candidates. The seats going to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls are Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Saran and reserved constituency of Hajipur.
Hajipur has the highest number of 19.67 voters and the primary contest there is between NDA partner 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. Sitting MP Pashupati Kumar Paras, a former Union minister and estranged uncle of Paswan, has stayed out of the contest while pledging support to the NDA. The adjoining seat of Saran is witnessing a high-profile fight between RJD debutant Rohini Acharya, daughter of party president Lalu Prasad, and former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the sitting MP who has won the constituency for BJP several times.
Rae Bareli, Amethi among 14 UP seats going to polls
Voting for the fifth phase in Uttar Pradesh, which will decide the fate of five Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, will be held on Monday. Voting will also take place for the assembly bypoll to Lucknow East assembly constituency.
The seats going to polls in the fifth phase are Mohanlalganj (SC), Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi (SC), Barabanki (SC), Faizabad, Kaisarganj and Gonda.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow) and Minister for Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj), Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur) and Union Minister of State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Jalaun). Rahul Gandhi is in the fray from Rae Bareli, which was represented by his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi earlier.
Voting in seven seats in Bengal
Voting will be held in seven Lok Sabha constituencies – Bangaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly and Arambag Lok Sabha seats on Monday from 7 am till 6 pm. A total of 1.25 crore voters, including 63.51 lakh men, 61.72 lakh women and 348 persons of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 13,481 polling stations. A total of 88 candidates are in the fray in the fifth phase, with the highest of 15 in Bangaon, where Union minister Shantanu Thakur is contesting against TMC’s Biswajit Das for the second term. In Barrackpore, BJP candidate Arjun Singh is contesting against TMC’s Partha Bhowmick and CPI (M)’s Debdut Ghosh.
A total of 14 candidates are in the fray in Howrah, where TMC’s Prasun Banerjee is fighting against BJP’s Rantidev Sengupta. In neighbouring Uluberia, TMC’s Sajda Ahmed is contesting against BJP’s Arun Uday Pal Chaudhary and Congress’s Azahar Mollick. In Serampore, TMC’s sitting MP Kalyan Banerjee is fighting against BJP’s Kabir Shankar Bose. In Hooghly, actor-turned-politician Locket Chatterjee of the BJP has locked horns with fellow member of the film fraternity, Rachana Banerjee of the TMC. Star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, have held rallies for their respective party candidates.
(With PTI inputs)