Polling for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections has begun. Follow us for live updates
A grenade attack on a polling booth in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, violence in West Bengal and EVM glitches were reported during the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls Monday across seven states in which voters turned out in considerable numbers till the afternoon.
Political heavyweights Rajnath Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani are in the fray in this phase in which polling is underway in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Rajasthan, seven seats each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, five in Bihar and four in Jharkhand.
In West Bengal, a scuffle broke out between Barrackpore seat's BJP candidate Arjun Singh and central forces when the former TMC MLA tried to enter a booth following allegations that voters were not being allowed to exercise their franchise there, officials said.
Below are the Live Updates:
4:00 pm: The overall voter turnout across states has reached 50 per cent by 3 pm. The turnout was 44.08 % in Bihar, 15.24 % in Jammu and Kashmir, 53.317 % in Madhya Pradesh, 50.39 % in Rajasthan, 44.79 % in Uttar Pradesh, 62.79 % in West Bengal and 58.63 % in Uttarakhand.
2:15 pm: Over 35 per cent voter turnout was recorded Monday till 1 pm in 14 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh where Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi among others are in the fray.
1:33 pm: AAP legislator Devinder Sehrawat joins BJP, second MLA from party to join the saffron fold in less than a week.
1:20 pm: Accusing the ruling TMC in West Bengal of unleashing "violence" on its voters, the BJP Monday demanded a repoll in Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused Trinamool Congress "goons" of booth-capturing and not letting BJP voters cast their votes by resorting to threats and violence.
At a press conference, he also alleged that the Election Commission had not done enough to make the polls free and fair in the state despite the BJP approaching it a number of times.
12:30 pm: The voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh and Anantnag constituencies stood at 21% and 1.14% respectively till 11 am.
11:50 am: The voter turnout was 21% till 11 am in the 51 seats that poll today across 7 states.
11:40 am: Even as the polling is underway for the fifth phase today, dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav has moved the Supreme Court to challenge the cancellation of his candidature as the Samajwadi candidate from Varanasi.
10:30 am: Union Minister Smriti Irani has accused the Congress party of booth-capturing in Amethi and added that she has alerted the Election Commission hoping it would take action. She also retweeted a video in which an elderly woman is saying that she was forced to vote for the Congress.
10:15 am: More than 12 per cent voting was recorded in the fifth phase of polling across 51 constituencies in seven states till 9 a.m. on Monday, the Voter Turnout App data of the Election Commission (EC) showed.
West Bengal recorded the highest with 14.85 per cent followed by Jharkhand (13.46 per cent), Rajasthan (13.37 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (11.79 per cent), Bihar (11.51 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (9.82 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (0.80 per cent), IANS reported
9:20 am: A man carried his 105-year-old mother on his shoulder to help her cast vote in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
9:10 am: A grenade was lobbed at a polling booth in south Kashmir's Pulwama, and a petrol bomb was thrown at a polling booth in Tral, NDTV reported. No casualties have been reported.
9:00 am: Arjun Singh, the BJP candidate from Barrackpore, alleges he was attacked by TMC workers. "I was attacked by TMC goons who have been brought from outside. Those people were scaring away our voters. I am injured."
8:50 am: Here are pictures of people from Jammu and Kashmir queuing up outside polling booths to exercise their democratic right.
8:20 am: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today cast his vote in Lucknow but refused to predict anything about the results. In Uttar Pradesh capital, Rajnath is facing Congress' Acharya Pramod Krishnam and Shatrughan Sinha's wife Poonam Sinha, who is contesting on an SP-BSP-RLD alliance.
7:50 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the youngsters to come out in large numbers and vote in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
"Requesting all those voting in today's fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to do so in large numbers. A vote is the most effective way to enrich our democracy and contribute to India's better future. I hope my young friends turn out in record numbers," he tweeted.
7:10 am: In Uttar Pradesh, the fifth phase will include most of the seats where the BJP performed credibly in the 2014 polls but faces a strong challenge from the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine this time.
In Bihar, the political equations have changed from the last Lok Sabha elections. Then the ruling Janata Dal-United was then opposed to the BJP but this time, it is a constituent of the NDA, facing the challenge from its erstwhile ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal along with the Congress and some smaller parties.
6:55 am: In Rae Bareli, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who has held the seat from 2004, will face former Congress leader Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP. In Amethi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will again face Union Minister Smriti Irani.
Among other prominent candidates in the fray are Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Jayant Sinha (Hazaribagh) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Jaipur Rural).