Lok Sabha Election Phase 5: Check voter turnout

Jharkhand: 63.72%

West Bengal: 73.97%

Madhya Pradesh: 62.60%

Uttar Pradesh: 57.33%

Bihar: 57.86 %

Rajasthan: 63.75%

Anantnag: 8.76%

Ladakh: 63.76%

Due to cyclone Fani, ECI has extended the completion of the elections on Patkura assembly constituency for 60 days. Earlier, ECI had appointed 19th May as the date of poll for Patkura Assembly Constituency after the demise of BJD candidate  Bed Prakash Agarwalla.

Bihar: 44.08%

Rajasthan: 50.44%

West Bengal: 63.57%

Jharkhand: 58.07%

Uttar Pradesh: 44.89%

Jammu and Kashmir: 15.51% 

The presiding officer of booth no 316 in Gauriganj in Amethi has been replaced after a video of a woman complaining that she was forced to vote for the Congress by the official went viral.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, the BJP candidate, complained about booth capturing by the Congress and demanded action. She blamed Rahul Gandhi, the Congress candidate.

The overall poll percentage till 3 pm in Jammu and Kashmir was 15.64%  in Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi today addressed an election rally in Haryana's Bhiwani, where he launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

"Narendra Modi, the boxer was supposed to fight unemployment, farmer problems, corruption etc., but he instead turned around and punched his coach Advani ji, his team Gadkari ji Jaitley ji, then went into the crowd and punched small traders and farmers," Rahul Gandhi said. 

Bihar - 24.49 

Jammu and Kashmir - 6.54

Rajasthan - 33.82 

Madhya Pradesh - 31.46

Uttar Pradesh - 26.53 

West Bengal - 39.55 

Jharkhand - 37.24

Addressing an election rally in West Bengal's Tamluk, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched an attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 

"Speedbreaker didi has tried to play politics even on Cyclone Fani. I tried to get in touch with Mamata didi but her arrogance is such that she refused to talk to me, I tried again but she did not get in touch," the prime minister said. 

Modi further said, "Didi is so frustrated these days that she doesn't even want to talk or hear about god. The situation is such that Didi is arresting and jailing those who are chanting 'Jai Sri Ram'," PM Modi said in Tamluk. 

Bihar opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday predicted a political earthquake when the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls are declared on May 23.

"Wait for May 23, there will be a political earthquake," Tejashwi Yadav told the media.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will resign either on May 23 or shortly after that.

Tejashwi Yadav also said that differences between the ruling Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party were growing and will soon lead to a conflict.

He made the remarks as voting for Bihar's five parliamentary seats of Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur and Saran was on.

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the disqualification proceedings against three rebel AIADMK MLAs in Tamil Nadu.

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly had issued notice to the AIADMK MLAs for backing rebel party leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran. The plea alleged that the Speaker acted in an arbitrary manner.

Last week, the apex court agreed to hear the DMK's plea against the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker's notice for disqualification of the three AIADMK MLAs, who extended support to rival leader and AMMK founder Dhinakaran.

Speaker P. Dhanapal on April 30 issued show cause notices to A. Prabhu (Kallakuruchi constituency), Rathinasabapathy (Aranthangi) and V.T. Kalaiselvan (Virudhachalam) -- seeking explanations for their anti-party activities.

The action followed a petition by the ruling party seeking "due legal action" against them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is presently addressing an election rally in West Bengal's Tamluk

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that he is confident of his victory in Lucknow, even as Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said it was the SP-BSP alliance that would win maximum seats and play a crucial role in formation of the next government.

Both the leaders were talking to reporters after casting their votes in Lucknow.

Rajnath Singh, who cast his vote with his family, said that the BJP would get a clear majority in the elections while the NDA would get two-thirds majority.

Mayawati said that the Modi government would be voted out and appealed to her voters to vote for the alliance.

An average 29.76 per cent polling was recorded till noon in seven Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, an election official said. Polling is underway since 7 am in the seven constituencies - Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul.

Long queues of voters were seen at some polling booths, the official said.

Voting figures till noon were as follows: Tikamgarh 28.81 per cent, Damoh- 28.23 per cent, Khajuraho- 29.73 per cent, Satna- 28.25 per cent, Rewa- 28.13 per cent, Hoshangabad- 31.14 per cent and Betul- 33.14 per cent.

All these seats are currently held by the BJP.

Sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav moves the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's decision to cancel his candidature from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting.

Yadav, who was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops, was fielded by the Samajwadi Party as its candidate from the Varanasi seat.

However, the returning officer rejected Yadav's nomination papers citing his failure to submit a certificate that he was not sacked for either corruption or disloyalty.

Yadav, in his plea, termed the decision of the poll panel discriminatory and unreasonable and said it should be set aside.

The SP had initially fielded Shalini Yadav as its candidate to contest against Modi and later nominated the sacked BSF jawan.

A probe ordered by Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra suspects foul play in the postal ballots of police officials who were deployed outside their home districts.

Kerala voted on April 23 to pick 20 Lok Sabha members.

The intelligence wing conducted the probe after allegations were levelled that the CPI-M backed office bearers of the Kerala Police Association had committed foul play.

Behra ordered the probe after an audio clip of two police officials speaking on the postal ballots surfaced in the media.

Image below shows state-wise voting trends. 

Madhya Pradesh: Actor Ashutosh Rana casts his vote at polling booth number 105 in Gadarwara, Narsinghpur. 

Sitamarhi - 25

Madhubani - 25.85

Muzaffarpur - 26.28

Saran - 29

Hajipur - 25

Bikaner - 28.35

Churu - 29.73

Jhunjhunu - 27.61

Sikar - 30.26

Jaipur (rural) - 29.09

Jaipur (urban) - 29.31

Alwar - 29.89

Bharatpur - 29.05

Dausa - 29.96

Nagaur - 30.25

West Bengal records 32.65 per cent polling till 11 am. Constituency-wise polling can be seen in the image below

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati has indicated that if she gets a chance to become the Prime Minister, she will contest the Lok Sabha election from Ambedkar Nagar.

"If all goes well, I may have to seek election form here because the road to national politics passes through Ambedkar Nagar," she said.

Mayawati has won the Lok Sabha elections from Ambedkar Nagar four times - 1989, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

Addressing a rally in Ambedkar Nagar in the backdrop of her cut-out in which she is seen standing outside Parliament, Mayawati said that the era of 'Namo Namo' was over and time had come for those who chant ‘Jai Bhim'.

State-wise polling till 11 am are as shown in the image

Polling was underway for the first phase of rural body elections in Telangana on Monday amid tight security, officials said.

Voting is underway to for 2,097 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MTPCs) and 195 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs). Candidates for 69 MPTCs and two ZPTCs were elected unopposed.

The Election Commission officials said that polling through ballot paper began at 7 a.m. and will continue till 5 p.m. In Maoist-infested areas in five districts, polling will end at 4 p.m.

Officials said separate ballot papers are being given to voters for MTPCs and ZPTCs. To avoid any confusion, every voter will be first given MTPC ballot paper and after casting the same in the ballot box, he/she will get a ZPTC ballot paper.

Elections to the rural local bodies are being held for the first time since the formation of Telangana state in 2014.

Re-polling is on at a brisk pace in five polling booths in three districts of Andhra Pradesh Monday. About 16 per cent of polling was reported overall in
the first two hours after the process began, Election Commission officials said.

The re-poll has been ordered in view of technical glitches in electronic voting machines in these polling booths.

Accordingly, re-polling is being held in polling booth 94 pertaining to Narsaraopet Assembly and Lok Sabha segments, polling booth 244 of Guntur West Assembly and Lok Sabha segments in Guntur district; 247 of Yerragondapalem Assembly and Ongole Lok Sabha segments.

Repolling is also being held in booth 41 of Kovur Assembly segment under Nellore Lok Sabha constituency and 197 of Sullurupeta Assembly segment under Tirupati parliamentary constituency.

Sitamarhi - 21

Madhubani - 18.25

Muzaffarpur - 23.58

Saran - 21

Hajipur - 21

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu today said promises made by the prime minister are hollow. 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work is incomplete, his promises and assurances are hollow," Sidhu said. 

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday alleged that the Congress workers were capturing booths and forcing voters to cast their vote for the Congress.

Irani tweeted a video of a woman who claimed that she was made to vote for the Congress. The woman said that one of the officials forcibly put her finger on the Congress button.

Her supporters said that they would soon lodge a formal complaint with the returning officer in this regard.

Irani is the BJP candidate in Amethi and is contesting against Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The two are locked in a fierce battle.

Gandhi is seeking a re-election from Amethi against Irani, who lost the 2014 polls by just over a lakh votes.

Around 16.68 per cent of nearly 1.17 crore voters cast their ballots in the first two hours of polling in the fifth phase in seven Lok Sabha seats in West
Bengal, officials said.

Some stray incidents of violence were reported from Bangaon, Hooghly and Barrackpore seats.

"We have sought a report from the polling officers posted in these stations. Otherwise the polling so far has been peaceful," he said.

Of the seven constituencies, Uluberia recorded maximum polling at 20.59 per cent till 9 am, followed by Arambagh (SC) 19.19 per cent, Sreerampore 17.41 per cent, Howrah recorded16.18 per cent, Hooghly 15.73 per cent, Barrackpore 13.99 per cent and Bongaon (SC) 13.68 per cent, the official said.

Map shows state-wise number of constituencies polling for the fifth phase of general elections today. 

Bihar - 11.51 

Jammu and Kashmir - 1.36 

Madhya Pradesh - 13.18 

Rajasthan - 14

Uttar Pradesh - 9.85 

West Bengal - 16.56

Jharkhand - 13.46

The first phase of polling in elections to Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) and Mandal ParishadTerritorial Constituencies (MPTC) is 
underway in Telangana.

The election is being held for 195 ZPTCs, for which 883 candidates, including 193 independents, are in the fray. Officials said in the first phase, polling would be held for 2,097 MPTCs.

A total of 7,072 candidates are in the fray.

Madhya Pradesh records 13 per cent voter turnout till 10 am 

Re-polling is underway at five polling booths in Andhra Pradesh.

Bihar: Person named Ranjit Paswan arrested on charges of vandalizing an EVM machine at polling booth number 131 in Chhapra

Over 12 per cent polling has been recorded in 51 constituencies across 7 states till 9 am. State-wise polling can be checked in the list. 

Amid reports of EVM glitches, nearly 10 per cent turnout was recorded Monday in the first two hours of polling in 14 Lok Sabha seats of UP where Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi are in the fray.

Among early voters in the state capital included Home Minister Singh, BSP supremo Mayawati, Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma and DGP OP Singh.

Election officials here said polling was going on smoothly, barring some complaints of EVM malfunctioning, which were attended to immediately to ensure voting was not hampered.

In the first two hours, maximum of 11.11 percent voting was witnessed in Sitapur, while Lucknow recorded 8.78 per cent.

Raebareli and Amethi witnessed 9.95 per cent and 8.17 per cent turnout respectively, EC officials said.

An estimated 12.22 per cent of the 65,87,028 electorate cast their votes till 9 am on Monday in four Lok Sabha constituencies of Jharkhand, in the second phase of polling in the state, an election official said.

Voters queued up before booths in Koderma, Ranchi, Khunti (ST) and Hazaribag constituencies since early morning to elect their representatives from among 61 contestants.

Police said there was no untoward incident reported so far from any part of the four constituencies.

The Congress party on Monday filed a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Election Commission of India for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The development comes a day after PM Modi had attacked former PM Rajiv Gandhi in an election rally in Uttar Pradesh's Basti without mentioning his name.

West Bengal records 16.68 per cent polling till 9 am. Constituency-wise polling can be checked in the list.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said, "The Mahagatbandhan is no challenge for BJP in Lucknow. I don't want to comment on her (SP-BSP-RLD candidate Poonam Sinha), as I believe elections are not about individuals but about issues." 

Polling is underway at booth number 46 to 49 in Bihar's Hajipur. 

Uttar Pradesh records 9.76 per cent polling till 9 am. 

Constituency-wise polling percentage can be checked in the list

Sitamarhi - 7.20 per cent

Madhubani - 9.20 per cent

Muzaffarpur - 6.35 per cent

Saran - 13 per cent

Hajipur - 9  per cent

Militants lob grenade towards a polling station in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir where polling is underway for the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency.

A grenade was lobbed towards Rohmoo polling station in Pulwama but there were no reports of any casualties in the blast. Security forces have cordoned off the area.

This was the first militant attack on a polling station in this Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajasthan records 13.60 per cent polling till 9 am.

Talking to reporters, Union Minister Smriti Irani says, "A person died as he was denied treatment at hospital where Rahul Gandhi is trustee, in Amethi, just because he had Ayushman Bharat card."

Talking about Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Smriti Irani said, "She did not know my name 5 years back, now she keeps taking my name, such an accomplishment. Nowadays she takes my name more than how much she takes her husband's name."

Polling is underway in seven Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh with minor EVM glitches being reported at some booths. Long queues were seen at some booths after the polling began at 7 am, he said.

This is the second phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh, the first phase having been held on April 29.

"Polling is going on peacefully across the seven constituencies. Minor issues related to EVMs were reported at some places but they were sorted out," state's chief electoral officer VL Kantha Rao said.

West Bengal: Voting has yet not begun at booth number 304 in Howrah due to EVM malfunction

Sitamarhi - 5 per cent 

Madhubani - 2.50 per cent 

Muzaffarpur - 3.58 per cent 

Saran - 4.25 per cent 

Hajipur - 4 per cent 

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore casts his vote in Jaipur, accompanied by his wife Gayatri.

"This is the day to decide the future of the country. I appeal to all Jaipur (Rural) voters to exercise their rights. Your awareness will decide the path of country's development," Rathore tweeted.

Voting began on Monday for 14 parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, including the high-profile Amethi, Rae Bareli and Lucknow seats, at 7 am.

The 14 seats are Lucknow, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kesarganj, Gonda and Dhaurahra.

This phase will see voting in many high-profile seats. Both Rae Bareli and Amethi, which are traditional Congress strongholds, will witness a heated contest between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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 is Union Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow).

Polling began on Monday for Ladakh and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Enthusiastic voters started pouring out to throng the polling stations in Leh and Kargil districts.

In contrast, most of the polling stations wore a deserted look in Shopian and Pulwama districts where polling is being held in the third and final phase of Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.

Polling began at 7 am in both the Lok Sabha seats, but it will end at 4 p.m. in Anantnag constituency and 6 p.m. in Ladakh constituency.

In the hilly Shahdab Karewa village of Shopian district, voters started to come out in good numbers to exercise their democratic rights.

In Ladakh, the contest is four-cornered between Jamyang Tsering Namgyal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rigzin Spalbar of the Congress and two independents, Haji Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Hussain.

There are 18 candidates in fray in Anantnag, but the main contest is between Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Congress and Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference.

The votes will be counted on May 23.

Voting began on Monday amid tight security for five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar.

The voting is underway in Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur and Saran parliamentary constituencies. More than 87 lakh voters would decide the fate of 82 candidates

Heavy security forces have been deployed at the polling booths and three helicopters requisitioned to assist the security forces.

The prominent candidates in the fray are Chandrika Rai (RJD, Saran), father in law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. He is taking on senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

In Muzaffarpur, sitting BJP MP Ajay Nishad is caught in a tough battle with Vikassheel Insaan Party's Raj Bhusan Choudhary.

In Hajipur, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate Pashupati Kumar Paras is being challenged by RJD's Shiv Chandra Ram. Paras is the younger brother of LJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who is not contesting this time.

There were some reports of problems in EVM machines at several booths in Darbhanga, Begusarai, Samastipur and Munger. 

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh casts his vote from Lucknow. The Home Minister, who is again the Lucknow BJP candidate cast his vote at polling booth 333 in Scholars' Home School, alongside his wife Savitri and son Pankaj.

Speaking to reporters immediately after, Singh said: "I leave everything on the voters here." He is pitted against SP-BSP star candidate Poonam Sinha, wife of former BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, and Congress candidate Acharya Pramod Krishnam

Voting in Rajasthan began at 7 am in the state's second phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The parliamentary constituencies to witness voting include Shri Ganganagar with 19.41 lakh voters, Bikaner 18.49 lakh voters, Churu - 20.10 lakh, Jhunjhunu 19.8 lakh, Sikar - 20.24 lakh. Jaipur Rural 19.43 lakh, Jaipur 21.25 lakh, Alwar 18.73 lakh, Bharatpur 19.34 lakh, Karauli Dholpur 18.5 lakh, Dausa 17.26 and Nagaur 19.24 lakh. 

Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar cast his vote with his wife Aradhna Singh and son Vinayak Kumar who is a first time voter.

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was seen standing in a queue with his parents and wife to cast vote.

A total of 134 candidates are in fray on these seats which include 12 women while around 2.30 crore voters are using their right to vote, said Chief Electoral Officer Kumar.

The highest number of candidates are reported in Jaipur while the lowest are in Dausa parliamentary seat.

The polling will continue till 6 p.m. and all required arrangements have been made.

West Bengal: Voting yet to begin at polling booth numbers 289/ 291/292 in Howrah, reportedly after glitches in EVMs and VVPATs

Rajasthan: EVM malfunction delays voting by 15 minutes at a polling booth in Jaipur, where Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has arrived to cast his vote

Union Minister Rajnath Singh urges people to cast their votes with enthusiasm and in large numbers. 

Taking to Twitter, Singh said, "Today is the polling for 51 Lok Sabha seats including Lucknow in the 5th phase of General Elections. I urge all the voters to cast their valuable votes with great enthusiasm and vote in large numbers."

Polling began for four parliamentary constituencies of Jharkhand at 7 am today. In the state's second phase of Lok Sabha election, the voting is underway at Ranchi, Khuti, Hazaribagh and Koderma. The polling will end at 4 pm.

A total of 61 candidates are in the fray for the four seats including 14 in Koderma, 20 in Ranchi, 11 in Khunti and 16 in Hazaribgh.

A total of 65,87,028 voters are eligible to cast their votes on these seats across 8,834 polling booths.

Amid heightened security with central forces guarding all polling stations, voting began for seven parliamentary constituencies of West Bengal in phase five of general elections 2019 on Monday.

The polling started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 6 p.m.

The constituencies -- Barrackpore, Bangaon, Howrah, Uluberia, Sreerampur, Hooghly and Arambagh -- are spread over North 24 Paganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts, in what is regarded as the core area of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress on the doorsteps of Kolkata.

In the general elections five years ago, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had won all the seven seats.

Polling for fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 51 constituencies across 7 states begins. The Election Commission has set up 94,000 polling stations/booths and made elaborate security arrangements.

This phase covers the remaining 12 constituencies in Rajasthan, as well as 14 in Uttar Pradesh, including the high-profile Amethi, Rae Bareli and Lucknow seats, five in Bihar, and seven in West Bengal.

Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh go in for their second phase of polls with voting in four and seven constituencies, respectively.

Voting is also being held in the final phase of the three stage polling in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag, as well as the state's Ladakh constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges all voters to vote in large numbers, as polling for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha election is set to begin.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "A vote is the most effective way to enrich our democracy and contribute to India’s better future."

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao will meet his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram today.

"Rao will meet Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday at 6 pm. In view of the parliament elections, both the CMs will discuss contemporary politics," an official release said.

Rao will also visit Rameshwaram and Srirangam temples, and return to Hyderabad, it said.

The TRS chief has been proposing a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front at the Centre. 

Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani are contesting for the Lok Sabha seat.

Voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of general elections is set to begin at 7 am today.

In West Bengal's Purulia, people of Sabar tribe call for a boycott of Lok Sabha elections in Bandwan area, due to unavailability of electricity in their houses. 

"Electricity department said we would get free electricity but later asked for Rs 4000, how would we pay that amount," a villager says. 

Polling in 51 constituencies across 7 states is slated to begin at 7 am.

Hello and welcome to our election live updates. The fifth phase of polling for the world's biggest election is set to begin shortly in India. Polling will be held across 51 constituencies across 7 states.