There were reports of violence in Bengal and J&K and rigging in Bengal. Voting for Phase 5 of Lok Sabha Election took place in seven states to elect representatives on 51 seats, reports Navodita. A Different Truths exclusive.
Voting for Phase 5 of Lok Sabha Election took place in seven states to elect representatives on 51 seats today. Voting percentage till 5 pm was highest in Bengal. Election voting percentage was lowest in Jammu and Kashmir with 17.1 per cent voting till 5 pm. The states where voting took place are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
The voting for Phase 5 elections began at 7 am and continued till 6 pm. Among the prominent candidates for Phase 5 Lok Sabha elections, 2019 are Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, all contesting from Uttar Pradesh. Other key candidates include Union Minister and former Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Samajwadi Party’s Poonam Sinha, who is the wife of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, parliamentarian Rajiv Pratap Rudy and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Around 62.5 per cent people voted in the fifth round of the national election – up from 61.76 in 2014 – that was marked by violence in parts of Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
Around 62.5 per cent people voted in the fifth round of the national election – up from 61.76 in 2014 – that was marked by violence in parts of Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. In Bengal, two persons, including a BJP candidate, were injured in separate incidents. A grenade was thrown at a polling booth and an explosion set off elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. This phase, the leanest with polling on 51 seats, was crucial in view of the candidates. The list included Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and Union minister Rajnath Singh.
The car of BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee – who alleged largescale rigging – was attacked.
Arjun Singh, the BJP candidate from Bengal’s Barrackpore, alleged that he was punched by workers of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. The car of BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee – who alleged largescale rigging – was attacked. Later, she sat on dharna at the office of the local magistrate and demanded a repoll on at least one assembly segment.
In Kashmir’s Pulwama – the Ground Zero of the February 14 suicide attack in which 40 soldiers died – terrorists threw a grenade at a polling station and set off an explosion at another one.
In Kashmir’s Pulwama – the Ground Zero of the February 14 suicide attack in which 40 soldiers died – terrorists threw a grenade at a polling station and set off an explosion at another one. This was the first terror attack in the state on an election day. There was no casualty. Polling took place in Ladakh constituency and in Pulwama and Shopian districts of Anantnag seat.
On Sunday, Mayawati endorsed the Congress, saying every vote for the mahagathbandhan should go to the party.
The BJP had bagged 12 of the 14 seats going to polls in Uttar Pradesh – Amethi and Raebareli were also the only two seats the Congress won in the state in 2014. This time, the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav alliance had not fielded any candidate there as a gesture of courtesy, even though they kept the Congress out of the alliance. On Sunday, Mayawati endorsed the Congress, saying every vote for the mahagathbandhan should go to the party.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party contested on five seats – Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Fatehpur and Kaisarganj. Its ally Samajwadi Party contested on seven seats – Lucknow, Banda, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich and Gonda. Voting was held in the politically crucial seat of Faizabad, which encompasses Ayodhya, in this round.
Two former Olympians – Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore of the BJP and Krishna Poonia of the Congress – are competing for Jaipur Rural – one if the 12 Lok Sabha seats that voted today in Rajasthan. This was the last phase of polling in the desert state, which the Congress wrested from the BJP in last year’s assembly election.
Campaigning ahead of the last two phases of the national elections is expected to reach a hectic pitch, especially in the BJP camp.
Meanwhile, campaigning ahead of the last two phases of the national elections is expected to reach a hectic pitch, especially in the BJP camp. With elections yet to be held in 118 seats – mostly in the crucial Hindi heartland – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah are squeezing as many rallies as possible into their packed schedules. The BJP strategists are especially focussing on the states that are not governed by the party – especially Bengal, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh – and the party is planning to push in all energy to grab the maximum number of seats going to polls.
Sources in the party said the Prime Minister will address at least four more rallies in the Mamata Banerjee-ruled state.
Sources in the party said the Prime Minister will address at least four more rallies in the Mamata Banerjee-ruled state. The BJP already rules all of northeast and Bengal, which has the third highest number of seats after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, has received special attention from the party.
Besides, party chief Amit Shah is also expected to focus on Bengal and Congress-ruled Punjab.
More rallies are expected to take place in several other heartland states – Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
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In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP won 72 seats last time, the battle is expected to be hard fought, with opposition Mayawati joining hands with her arch-rival Akhilesh Yadav.
In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP won 72 seats last time, the battle is expected to be hard fought, with opposition Mayawati joining hands with her arch-rival Akhilesh Yadav. The Congress, which is contesting solo, is the third angle in this triangular contest.
Two rallies by the Prime Minister have been planned in Uttar Pradesh on May 9.
In Haryana, BJP’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has admitted to some negativity, but said “pro-incumbency” is so strong that it would not matter. His party, however, doesn’t seem to agree. The party plans to three more rallies in Haryana on May 8 and 10.
With campaigning ever on the rise by the BJP, it seems the Election Commission couldn’t rap their knuckles for enormous amounts of expenditure in the election process.
With campaigning ever on the rise by the BJP, it seems the Election Commission couldn’t rap their knuckles for enormous amounts of expenditure in the election process. In the midst of jumlebaazi and bayaanbazi, these elections are still in full swing where the national capital will go to polls in the next phase on May 12. We have to wait and watch how all the important seats have been contested until May 23.
Photos from the Internet
Dr. Navodita Pande
Navodita Pande teaches Mass Media and Communication and English to ICSE/ISC school in Assam. She also trains students in Yoga, gratitude and healing. She loves to paint, write and read as her pastimes. She lives in Assam with her daughter.
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