Staff Reporters / AGENCIES
All arrangements have been made for peaceful conduct of fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections tomorrow. Fifty one constituencies, spread over seven states, will go to polls in this phase. Voting will take place for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh; 12 in Rajasthan; seven each in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal; five in Bihar and four in Jharkhand.
In Jammu and Kashmir, polling will take place in Ladakh and Pulwama and Shopian districts of Anantnag constituencies.
In Uttar Pradesh, polling parties are being sent to their respective booths under tight security. The constituencies which will go to pollls included Lucknow, Raebareili, Amethi, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambhi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Behraich, Kaisarganj, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj and Gonda. There are more than 3 lakh 39 thousand new voters in this phase.
The key contestants are senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BJP leader Smriti Zubin Irani, Congress leader and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Jitin Prassd and SP’s Poonam Sinha, wife of Shatrughan Sinha. SP-BSP- RLD Alliance has not fielded its candidates in Amethi and Raebareli. Barring Amethi and Raebareli seats, remaining 12 in this phase were bagged by BJP in 2014.
In Bihar, Indo – Nepal border has been sealed and strict vigil is being maintained to avert untoward incidents in the elections. Our correspondent reports that voting will be held in five Parliamentary constituencies including Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur.
82 candidates, including six women, are in the fray. Important candidates whose fate will be decided are former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Pashupati Kumar Paras of LJP, Chandrika Roy of RJD and former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad who is contesting as an independent. Besides Sunil Kumar Pintu, Ashok Yadav and Ajay Kumar Nishad will try their luck. The election commission has made special arrangements at each polling booth for divyang and elderly voters.
In Rajasthan, 12 parliamentary constituencies are going to polls in the fifth Phase tomorrow. Polling will begin at 7 AM and continue till 6 PM.AIR correspondent reports, more than 95 thousand employees have been deployed on 23 thousand 783 polling booths on these seats. Political fate of 134 candidates is to be decided tomorrow. ver 6 thousand polling booths have been declared Critical for tomorrows elections.
More than 6 thousand wheelchairs and ramp facilities have been arranged to make polling booths accessible for Divyangjans. Pick and drop facilities along with volunteers is also being ensured for them.
In West Bengal, more than 13,000 polling stations have been set up. Important candidates in the fray include former Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress nominee Dinesh Trivedi, BJP’s Arjun Singh, former Arjun awarders footballer, Prasun Banerjee and Ratna Dey Nag of Trinamool Congress.
In Madhya Pradesh, seven parliamentary constituencies will go to polls tomorrow. AIR correspondent reports that voting will be held in Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul. All these seats are currently with the BJP. In this phase, about one crore 20 lakh voters will decide the fate of 110 candidates, including nine women. 454 polling stations will be fully operated by women polling personnel while 43 polling booths by Divyanga staff.
In Jammu and Kashmir, in the high altitude constituency of Ladakh, BJP is trying to retain the seat by fielding the Leh Hill Council Chief Executive Councillor Jamyang Tsering Namgyal. Congress has given ticket to the Council’s former CEC Rigzin Spalbar. Ladakh is all set to go for polls in the 5th phase of general election tomorrow.
This high altitude constituency has seen a high voltage campaign. BJP is trying to retain the seat by fielding the Leh Hill Council Chief Executive Councillor Jamyang Tsering Namgyal. The Congress has given ticket to the Council’s former CEC Rigzin Spalbar.