NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 19
The Election Commission of India is all geared up for the Phase-5 of the Lok Sabha polls that commences tomorrow. Polling is scheduled in 49 Parliament Constituencies across 8 States/UTs. Polling for 35 Assembly Constituencies of the Odisha Legislative Assembly will also take place simultaneously.
Key leaders like Congress’s Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli), Kishori Lal Sharma (Amethi), Bharatiya Janata Party’s Smriti Irani (Amethi), Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Rajnath Singh (Lucknow) and Chirag Paswan (Hajipur) are in the fray in phase 5. Bypoll to Gandey assembly seat in Jharkhand and Lucknow East in Uttar Pradesh is also scheduled for Monday.
- All arrangements in place for polling tomorrow
- 8.95 crore voters, over 94 thousand polling stations, 8 States/UTs
- Simultaneous polling for 35 Assembly Constituencies in Odisha
- Key leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh are in the fray
Polling stations are ready to welcome the voters with ample shade, drinking water, ramps, toilets and other basic facilities to ensure that polling takes place in a comfortable and secure environment. The concerned CEOs/DEOs and State machineries have been advised to take adequate measures to manage hot weather conditions in areas, where it is forecast. Polling parties have been dispatched along with machines and poll materials to their respective polling stations.
The Commission has called upon voters to turnout in greater numbers at polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride. Until now, the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 has seen the voter turnout at polling stations of about 66.95%. Around 451 million people have already voted, during the first four phases of ongoing General Elections.
8 States/UTs going for polls in phase-5 are – Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Cities like Mumbai, Thane, Lucknow are going to polls in this phase, which have in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting. Commission specially calls upon these city-dwellers to erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers.
ECI has partnered with a host of prominent figures to appeal to and motivate voters to cast their vote, during the ongoing elections. So do not be surprised, say for instance if you receive a call from Cricket legend and ECI National Icon, Sachin Tendulkar, with an appeal to cast your vote!
Remaining 3 phases of polls will continue till the 1st of June with counting of votes scheduled on 4th June. Polling for 23 States/UTs and 379 PCs was completed in a smooth and peaceful manner in the first four phases of the General Elections.
