Voters from 49 constituencies spread across eight states and Union territories are participating in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday. States including Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are witnessing polling, alongside Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. With a total of 695 candidates contesting for Lok Sabha, the fifth phase of elections has the list of the most important candidates, including Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Karan Bhushan Singh, and Chirag Paswan. Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.
Phase 5 Voting in Lok Sabha 2024: List of States and Constituencies
Bihar:
Sitamarhi
Madhubani
Muzaffarpur
Saran
Hajipur (SC)
Jammu & Kashmir:
Baramulla
Ladakh:
Ladakh
Maharashtra:
Dhule
Dindori
Nashik
Kalyan
Palghar
Bhiwandi
Thane
Mumbai North
Mumbai North-West
Mumbai North-East
Mumbai North-Central
Mumbai South-Central
Mumbai South
Odisha:
Bargarh
Sundargarh
Bolangir
Kandhamal
Aska
Uttar Pradesh:
Mohanlalganj (SC)
Lucknow
Amethi
Raebareli
Jalaun
Jhansi
Hamirpur
Banda
Kaushambi (SC)
Barabanki (SC)
Faizabad
Kaiserganj
Gonda
West Bengal:
Bangaon
Barrackpur
Howrah
Uluberia
Srerampur
Hooghly
Arambagh
Jharkhand:
Chatra
Kodarma
Hazaribagh
Here’s the list of key candidates:
Bihar:
Chirag Paswan, LJP (Ram Vilas): Hajipur
Raj Bhushan Choudhary, BJP: Muzaffarpur
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP: Saran
Jharkhand:
Krishna Nand Tripathi, INC: Chatra
Maharashtra:
Piyush Goyal, BJP: Mumbai North
Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Shiv Sena: Mumbai North-West
Ajaz Mohammad Safi Khan (IND): Mumbai North-Central
Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shiv Sena (UBT): Mumbai South
Uttar Pradesh:
Rahul Gandhi, INC: Raebareli
Kishori Lal, INC: Amethi
Smriti Irani, BJP: Amethi
Karan Bhushan Singh, BJP: Kaiserganj
Jammu and Kashmir:
Omar Abdullah, JKNC: Baramulla
Phase 5 Voting in Lok Sabha 2024: Richest to poorest candidates
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Mumbai North parliamentary constituency candidate and BJP leader Piyush Goyal is the richest candidate in the fifth phase of polls with assets over Rs 110 crore. Goyal, who is the Union Minister of Commerce, Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi cabinet, is fighting a Lok Sabha election for the first time.
The poorest candidates include Mohammad Sultan Ganaie, an Independent candidate for the Baramulla seat in Jammu and Kashmir, with the least wealth at Rs. 67. Mukesh Kumar, an Independent candidate for the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar, has declared assets worth Rs. 700. Surajit Hembram, an Independent candidate for the Hooghly seat in West Bengal, follows with assets of Rs. 5,427. Mehraj Uddin Najar, another Independent candidate for the Baramulla seat, has declared assets worth Rs. 10,000.
Phase 5 Voting in Lok Sabha 2024: Security arrangements
Extensive security arrangements have been made for this phase. According to PTI, around 9.47 lakh polling officials have been stationed across 94,732 polling stations to facilitate voting for over 8.95 crore voters, which includes 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5,409 third-gender electors. To ensure the smooth movement of polling and security personnel, 17 special trains and 508 helicopter sorties have been arranged.
As per a press release by ECI, 153 observers, including 55 general observers, 30 police observers, and 68 expenditure observers, have also been deployed to their respective constituencies.
They are joined by special observers in certain states. Surveillance efforts are robust, with 2,000 flying squads, 2,105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams working round the clock to prevent voter inducement and ensure a fair election process.