Sluggish Voting In First 2 Hours Of Lok Sabha Polls Phase 5 Voting, Bengal Leads Turnout Despite Violence

Lok Sabha Elections: In the phase 5, voting is being held on 49 seats across 8 states and UTs.

Lok Sabha Elections Phase 5 2024:  As the voting for the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections began earlier today at 7 AM, a voter turnout of 10.28 percent was recorded in the first two hours till 9 AM. During phase five, polling is being conducted in 49 constituencies across eight states and Union Territories. As per the data shared by the Election Commission of India, the highest voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal at 15.35 percent and the lowest turnout was recorded in Maharashtra at 6.33 percent.

The states where polling is underway today include Bihar (5), Jharkhand (3), Maharashtra (13), Uttar Pradesh (14), Odisha (5), West Bengal (7), Jammu and Kashmir (1), and Ladakh (1).

Over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore male, 4.26 crore female, and 5409 third-gender electors are eligible to cast ballots today in the fifth phase.

Out of these eligible voters, around 7.81 lakh are aged above 85, 24,792 are aged 100+, and 7.03 lakh are PwD voters. All of them have been provided the option to exercise their franchise from home.

Here's The Voter Turnout Till 9 AM

State/UT	Turnout (%)
Bihar	8.86
Jammu & Kashmir	7.63
Ladakh	11.68
Maharashtra	6.33
Ladakh	10.51
Odisha	6.87
Uttar Pradesh	12.89
West Bengal	15.35
Jharkhand	11.68

The Election Commission of India had specifically called on the urban residents to break the trend and vote: "Commission specially calls upon these city-dwellers to erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers."

The prominent candidates in fray whose electoral fate will be locked in the fifth phase today include, Rajnath Singh, who is seeking a fourth term from Lucknow, and Smriti Irani, who is re-contesting from Amethi. Singh has been fielded against sitting Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Ravidas Mehrotra, while Irani will compete against Congress loyalist KL Sharma. 

Some of the other key candidates include Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti from Fatehpur, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor from Mohanlalganj, and Union Minister of State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma from Jalaun.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, who is also contesting from Rae Bareli, is also in fray for fifth phase of polling, aiming to succeed his mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.