Brothers Madhukar Jagtap (97), Madhav Jagtap (85) and Sadashiv Jagtap (84) show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their votes for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Nashik, on Monday, May 20. PTI
LIVE | West Bengal leads with 73% voter turnout; Maharashtra at bottom with 49%
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accused the ECI of delaying the poll process deliberately at the behest of the Narendra Modi govt.
An approximate voter turnout of 57.51% was recorded on Monday (May 20) in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union Territories in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to the Election Commission of India figures, West Bengal recorded the highest polling at 73%, followed by Ladakh with 67.15%, Jharkhand with 63% and Odisha with 60.72% turnout.
Uttar Pradesh registered a voter turnout of 57.79% followed by Bihar with 55.85%, while Maharashtra witnessed 49.01% polling. The poll panel said Baramulla seat in J&K recorded all time highest voter turnout of 59%. There are provisional figures and the turnout could go up marginally in the final data.
West Bengal saw a voter turnout of 73% across seven constituencies, according to the Election Commission data. The highest turnout was in Arambagh at 76.90%, followed by Bangaon (75.73%), Uluberia (74.50%), Hooghly (74.17%), Sreerampur (71.18%), and Howrah and Barrackpore (68.84%).
Maharashtra recorded the lowest voter turnout at 49.01%, with less than 45% polling in Mumbai South. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray blamed the administration for low voter turnout, alleging that the BJP-led ruling alliance is apprehending defeat in the state. He accused the ECI of delaying the poll process deliberately at the behest of the Narendra Modi government.
Low turnout in Mumbai
Meanwhile, a voter turnout of 47.52 per cent was recorded till 5 pm across the six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai on Monday amid complaints of slow polling process, non-functional EVMs and names missing from voter rolls.
The city has a total of 99,38,621 registered voters while 116 candidates were in the fray in the six constituencies.
In Borivali, voters complained of names missing from the electoral list. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad, who is contesting from Mumbai North Central, said she was getting worrying reports from across Mumbai about people waiting for several hours in queues amid heat, and returning without casing their vote. Many people said they had never waited this long to vote before and the complaints came especially from the areas where the Opposition's MVA coalition has a strong presence, she claimed.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, said he first complained to the EC about the slow pace of voting in the city, and Thackeray was blaming the Modi government only because the Opposition was staring at a defeat. Thackeray was preparing the ground to face the results on June 4, he added.
Poll violence in Bengal
Clashes broke out between BJP and TMC workers during the fifth phase of polling in West Bengal on Monday (May 20).
A local TMC leader was critically wounded when he was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons by the BJP supporters at Arambagh in Hooghly. Another clash broke out between workers of the two rival parties in which a BJP panchayat leader was injured around 25 km away in Khanakul.
There were also reports of violent confrontation at Uluberia and Salkia in Howrah district. While the nephew of a BJP local leader was attacked in Uluberia, a CPI(M) party office was ransacked in Salkia.
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Live Updates
- 20 May 2024 4:08 PM IST
After years of threats, people step out to vote in J&K's Baramulla
"I didn't get a chance to vote in the past and voted today to choose a government which will work for the country's development," said Ghulam Qadir Darzi, 52, as he emerged out of a polling station in Sopore here on Monday after voting for the first time.
The new government should create enough employment opportunities for the unemployed youth, said Darzi, a retired government employee.
Standing in a long queue outside this polling station in Delina village in the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency's Sopore, a region once known for its association with separatist activities, are many such voters who stayed away from elections in the past amid boycott calls and threats issued by separatists.
For Javed Ahmad Guroo, Mohd Sultan Bhat and Abdul Rashid, all in their mid-40s, too, this ended on Monday. "We are voting for the first time in the past three decades. We decided to come and vote for our better future," said Guroo, admitting that the separatist-led boycott calls and threats of violence kept them away from polling booths in the past.
Also among the voters is Mir Masoom Sultan, 18, a first-time voter, who underlines the importance of individual voices in shaping political outcomes.
Sultan said he decided to vote to "get one of our men out of jail".
"He was talking about us in the assembly and we hope that our vote will get him out of prison and he can start talking about us again," the teenager said, referring to Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chairman Sheikh Abdul Rashid, alias Engineer Rashid, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail since he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a terror-funding case in 2019.
A total of 22 candidates are in the fray from the Baramulla constituency including National Conference's Omar Abdullah and separatist-turned-politician and People's Conference chief Sajjad Lone.
