National Desk, 20th May: The fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha general elections kicked off today across 49 constituencies spanning six states and two Union Territories. This crucial election phase will play a pivotal role in deciding the futures of many prominent leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Since the early hours, voters have been lining up to cast their ballots. The voter turnout includes several Bollywood celebrities and notable figures such as Akshay Kumar, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, and Reliance Group chairman and MD Anil Ambani.
In this phase, a total of 695 candidates, of which 82 are women, are competing for the 49 seats up for grabs.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been encouraging increased voter participation, especially following a lower turnout in the previous four phases. Over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.26 crore women and 5,409 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in this round. To ensure smooth operations, 9.47 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 94,732 polling stations nationwide.
The overall voter turnout for the first four phases stands at 66.95 percent. The ECI hopes to see higher engagement in this phase to ensure a robust democratic process.
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