Fifth Phase Voting; 57 percent polling, minor incidents in West Bengal

NEW DELHI: 57.47 percent voter turnout in the fifth phase of polling in 49 Lok Sabha constituencies across six states and two Union Territories. The polls were generally peaceful except for minor incidents in West Bengal.

Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout at 73 percent, while Maharashtra recorded the lowest voter turnout at 48.88 percent. The turnout was Bihar (52.60%), Jammu and Kashmir (Baramulla- 54.49%), Jharkhand (63%), Uttar Pradesh (57.79%) and Ladakh (67.15%). 60.72 percent of voters exercised their right to vote in Odisha where polling was held for 35 assembly constituencies and five Lok Sabha constituencies.

Rahul in Raebareli

Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi stayed in Raebareli on polling day. In the morning, Rahul visited the Hanuman temple in Raebareli, after which he visited various polling booths. Priyanka Gandhi, who spearheaded Rahul's campaign, also remained in the constituency on election day.

BJP meeting in Delhi

A meeting was held at the BJP headquarters in Delhi under the chairmanship of National President JP Nadda while the voting was in progress. The meeting was held to review the party's performance in the fifth phase and formulate strategies for the remaining phases.

Celebrities to the polling booth

Bollywood stars exercised their right to vote in the polls held in various parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai. Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan and others cast their votes. Industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani voted in Mumbai.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and BSP leader Mayawati cast their votes in Lucknow.

Complaints from Bengal

The Election Commission has received many complaints from West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress alleged that three workers were beaten up by BJP goons and one was seriously injured. BJP MP and candidate Arjun Singh has alleged that Trinamool candidate from Barrackpore, Partha Bhowmick, distributed money for votes on Sunday night. There were also many complaints of malfunctioning voting machines.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee's brother could not vote as his name was not on the voter list. Babun Banerjee was voting in Howrah constituency. It is reported that Babun Banerjee came to know that his name was not on the voter list only when he reached the polling booth. BJP-Congress workers clashed over distribution of voter slips in Sion, Mumbai. BJP workers alleged that Congress workers gave slips to voters 100 meters away from the polling centre. A dispute over the same is what resulted in the clash.