New Delhi, May 20: The fifth round of the Lok Sabha elections for 49 parliamentary constituencies saw a cumulative voter turnout of 36.73 per cent till 1 pm, as per the data shared by the Election Commission.

According to the poll body, Ladakh recorded the highest voter turnout (52.02 per cent) followed by West Bengal (48.41 per cent), Jharkhand (41.89 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (39.55 per cent), Odisha (35.31 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (34.79 per cent), Bihar (34.62 per cent) and Maharashtra (27.78 per cent)

Mumbai continued to disappoint with voter turnout failing to cross 30 per cent till 1 pm. Mumbai North recorded a turnout of 26.78 per cent; Mumbai North Central saw a turnout of 28.05 per cent, Mumbai North East saw a turnout of 28.82 per cent, Mumbai North West recorded a turnout of 28.41 per cent. Mumbai South had the lowest turnout in the city with 28.41 per cent recorded till 1 pm. Mumbai South Central saw a turnout of 27.21 per cent.

As per the ECI, over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5409 third-gender electors, will decide the fate of 695 candidates in the fifth phase of voting. The fifth phase is witnessing key contests in various constituencies.

Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya are looking for electoral success.

The eight states/UTs polling in phase 5 are Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Lucknow are polling in this phase, which has in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In a bid to create a peaceful atmosphere for the electors, a total of 2,000 flying squads, 2105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams are keeping surveillance round the clock across the 94,732 polling stations.

A total of 216 international border check posts and 565 inter-state border check posts are keeping a strict vigil on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash, and freebies. Strict surveillance has been kept on sea and air routes, the ECI said.

(ANI)

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