Voting began at 7 a.m. across the 51 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over the seven states, largely in the Hindi heartland, in the fifth of the mega seven-phase electoral exercise.
A security personnel stands guard as voters queue at a polling station to cast their vote in Howrah
New Delhi:
More than 26 per cent voting was recorded in the fifth phase of polling across 51 constituencies in seven states till 9 a.m. on Monday, the Voter Turnout App data of the Election Commission (EC) showed.
West Bengal recorded the highest with 33.63 per cent followed by Jharkhand (29.49 per cent), Rajasthan (29.35 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (27.57 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (22.51 per cent), Bihar (20.74 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (6.09 per cent).
A total electorate of over 8.75 crore is eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase which covers the remaining 12 constituencies in Rajasthan; 14 in Uttar Pradesh, including the high-profile Amethi, Rae Bareli and Lucknow seats; five in Bihar; seven each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh; four in Jharkhand; and two in Jammu and Kashmir, including Anantnag, where the third and final phase of polling is underway.
In the 2014 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 39 of these 51 seats -- all 12 in Rajasthan, 12 of 14 in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Madhya Pradesh, three of five in Bihar, all four in Jharkhand and one of two in Jammu and Kashmir.
Among the 674 candidates in this phase, prominent ones include Congress President Rahul Gandhi from his traditional Amethi constituency where he faces Union Minister Smriti Irani, his mother and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi from neighbouring Rae Bareli, and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who faces actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha's wife Poonam Sinha (Samajwadi Party) in Lucknow.
Also contesting are Union Ministers Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - who faces fellow Olympian Krishna Poonia in Jaipur (Rural) - and Jayant Sinha (Hazaribagh), former Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress) in Barrackpore, and actress-turned-BJP leader Locket Chatterjee in Hooghly.