Home to the world's largest democracy, with up to 900 million votes being cast in the current Parliamentary election, local villages, towns and cities in India are buzzing with energy and excitement. The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha (Lower House in Parliament) election concluded on Monday, 6 May 2019, and the overall tentative turnout stood at 63.26% as against 61.75% in 2014.
The fifth phase and the coming two phases will be crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the Congress. The BJP is facing a tough challenge from the Mahagathbandhan in seven of the 12 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the fifth phase. Polling was held on 14 seats, the highest so far in the state, in phase five. The BJP had swept this central region winning 12 seats while the Congress has retained Amethi and Rae Bareli, as before.
If the votes polled by the Mahagathbandhan constituents Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2014 - when they had contested separately - are taken into account, the BJP's road to victory will become tougher in at least seven seats which it had won last time. If SP and BSP are able to hold on to their committed voters, the going will be tougher for the BJP in Bahraich, Mohanlalganj, Sitapur, Kaisarganj, Kaushambhi, Banda and Dhaurahra in UP. The BJP can effectively tackle the Mahagathbandhan factor in Gonda, Faizabad, Lucknow, Barabanki and Fatehpur in UP.
The phase is crucial for the Congress as well, as fate of several of its leaders is at stake, including party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Prominent young Congress leader Jitin Prasada is facing a tough battle in Dhaurhara, UP, a seat he has represented twice in the past. Another senior leader P.L. Punia's son Tanuj is locked in a multi-cornered battle in Barabanki, where the BJP has not given ticket to sitting MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and gone for MLA Upendra Rawat. The Mahagathbandhan has fielded four time MP Ram Sagar Rawat from this seat. Even though considered to be an SP stronghold, the BJP seems to have an advantage in the Barabanki battle. The party had got 45,4211 votes in 2014 compared to BSP's 1,67,150 and SP's 1,50,284. The Congress' P.L. Punia had polled 2,42,336. With Congress remaining out of Mahagathbandhan, it is advantageous for BJP.
Voting in politically sensitive areas
Voting was also held in politically sensitive Faizabad in Awadh district, UP from where the BJP has fielded sitting MP Lallu Singh, who will face tough challenge from Mahagathbandhan and the Congress. Aside from this, the BJP is giving tough fight to Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Gandhi had defeated Smriti Irani of BJP by 1,07,903 votes in 2014 where he polled 46.71 per cent votes and Irani had 34.38 per cent. BSP candidate Dharmendra Pratap Singh had got 57,716 votes. This time, it is a direct contest between Congress and the BJP.
The battle for Sonia Gandhi, though appeared to be smooth, who had polled 5,26,434 votes and had won with a margin of over 3,50,000 against her rivals Ajay Agrawal of the BJP and Pravesh Singh of BSP. BJP has fielded ex-Congress leader Dinesh Pratap Singh against her.
Four seats in phase five - Mohanlalganj, Kaushambi, Barabanki and Bahraich in UP - are reserved.
Voting: Sixth and seventh phase
In the sixth phase voting will take place in seven states across the country. Some constituencies in Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will also go to polling in phase six. All Lok Sabha constituencies in Haryana and NCT of Delhi will vote on 12 May. The states which will go to polls in the sixth phase is also crucial for the BJP. In the 2014 election, BJP had scored handsomely in these states.
Voting is set to take place in eight states and Union Territories – 59 constituencies – in the seventh and final phase of polling on 19 May. All parliamentary constituencies in Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab will vote on the same day. In Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, voting will take place in some Lok Sabha constituencies. Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election, will be one of the key seats to vote in this phase.
Fifth phase ends amid violence
The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election across 51 constituencies in seven states on Monday witnessed several incidents of violence in West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir. The overall tentative turnout stood at 63.26% as against 61.75% in 2014. With the conclusion of this round, 78% of the Lok Sabha election is now over.
Dismal show in J&K
In Anantnag constituency of Jammu & Kashmir, where the polls were conducted in three phases, the turnout was a dismal 8.76%, while it was 28.54% in 2014. However, 71.1% voter participation was registered in Ladakh, close to last time’s figure. A grenade exploded in Anantnag, but no one was injured. “A grenade was hurled at another place too, but it did not explode,” said an EC official.
Monday’s highest of 74.42% turnout was reported from seven constituencies in West Bengal, which is lower than the corresponding 81.37% recorded in 2014.
Three candidates attacked
Three candidates, two from BJP and one from Trinamool Congress were attacked in the State. The BJP candidate from North 24 Parganas's Barrackpore seat, Arjun Singh, suffered injuries after being allegedly attacked by Trinamool supporters. Singh, who alleged electoral malpractices at the behest of the Trinamool was seen arguing with locals and chasing supporters of the rival parties at a number of polling booths. Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal Arif Aftab said an FIR has been registered against Singh on a specific complaint.
About half-a-dozen incidents of violence, in which some people were injured, have been brought to the notice of the Election Commission. The car of BJP candidate from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee was allegedly damaged by Trinamool workers near a polling booth in Dhanekhali. The BJP candidate who had come to the booth after receiving reports of rigging by the ruling party workers, also faced demonstration from TMC supporters. Clashes between BJP and Trinamool cadres were reported from some places, while in Bangaon, crude bombs were hurled, injuring few people. In Titagarh, some miscreants assaulted CPI(M) supporters at their poll camp.
A turnout of 68.11% was registered in Madhya Pradesh, compared to just 57.86% in 2014. In Jharkhand, where the naxals burnt down a vehicle in the outskirts of Ranchi, there was an increase from 63.85% last time to a tentative 65.12% this time.
Rajasthan too recorded 63.75% polling, almost 2% more than the 2014 turnout. Union Ministers Rajyawardhan Rathore and Arjun Ram Meghwal were in the fray in the State. In the 14 constituencies of Utttar Pradesh, the figure was 57.93% as against 55.69% last time.
Among the prominent politicians contesting in the state were Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Bihar recorded a tentative turnout of 57.86% as against 55.69% in 2014.
Amid grenades & stones, under 1% vote in Pulwama
The thunder of grenades lobbed by militants and the clatter of stones pelted by rioting youth kept streets and roads leading to polling booths in Pulwama deserted in the Kashmir valley. The fear of militants in Kashmir, and the anger against the BJP government in New Delhi, resulted in just around 0.8% polling.
It was the first time in Kashmir’s electoral history that polls to the Anantnag parliamentary constituency (comprising Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts) were held in three phases due to serious security concerns. On Monday, the polling was held in Pulwama and Shopian, both militancy-infested districts and highly volatile since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016. The two districts registered a turnout of only 2.8% combined, officials said.
However, the cumulative turnout is about 9%, with around 13% polled in Anantnag district in the first phase and around 10% in Kulgam district in the second phase.
The parliamentary constituency of Anantnag used to be seen as the bastion of PDP since the 2002 assembly polls. A stronghold of Jamaate-Islami, represented by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti in the 2014 LS until she resigned to become the CM in 2016, the constituency has remained vacant. In 2014, Mehbooba had won the LS seat by defeating National Conference candidate Mehboob Beg by more than 65,000 votes.
In 2019, the seat is home to a triangular contest between Mehbooba Mufti, NC’s candidate Justice Hasnain Masoodi (retd) and state Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
On Monday, police sources said, militants in Pulwama district hurled grenades at polling stations, and rioters lobbed stones at security forces in their attempt to shut down even the minimal voting witnessed at some places. The police fired pellet guns to disperse violent mobs, injuring a couple of youth
