Phase 5 of Lok Sabha election: 36.73% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm

Overall 36.73% voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm on Monday, in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election. Ladakh registered the highest with 52.02%, followed by West Bengal at 48.41%, and Jharkhand at 41.89%. The lowest turnout was recorded in Maharashtra at 27.78%.

The polling for Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha elections began on Monday for 49 seats, including much-watched Raebareli and Amethi.

Besides Lok Sabha, 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha are also going polls.

Key contestants in this round of Lok Sabha polls are Rahul Gandhi, Smrti Irani, Rajnath Singh and Omar Abdullah. The fate of five Union Ministers is at stake.

Of the 49 seats going to the polls, the BJP had won 32 in 2019, while the Congress got only Raebareli.

This time, the BJP is contesting in 40 seats while the Congress has limited itself to just 18 seats, leaving the rest to its allies.

For this phase, which has the least number of constituencies going to the polls, 695 candidates, including 82 women, are in the fray. Notably, All the seats in Mumbai are also going to polls in this phase.

Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, along with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, are participating in this crucial electoral phase.