The fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday saw 60.3% voter turnout as against 62.5% in 2019, with West Bengal registering the highest polling of 74.7% and Maharashtra witnessing the least at 54.3%.
The overall turnout for 2019 does not include the delimited seat of Baramulla. In terms of turnout percentages, Baramulla in J&K saw 56.7% polling this time (against 34.6% five years ago) -higher than what any of the six constituencies in Mumbai registered on Monday. The turnout in India’s financial capital ranged between 47.8% in Mumbai South and 55.2% in Mumbai North East and Mumbai North West, according to data on the Election Commission’s turnout app. In Maharashtra, where 13 seats went to polls, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Thane registered higher voting.
In a statement, EC too noted the trend: “Parliamentary constituencies in various urban cities like Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Lucknow continued the trend of urban apathy as noticed in last general election in 2019.” With this phase, which saw voting in 49 seats across six states and two Union Territories, polling has been completed in 428 seats.
According to EC’s voter turnout app at 11.45 pm, Amethi and Rae Bareli, from where Union minister Smriti Irani and Congress’s Rahul Gandhi are contesting, saw higher polling.
The elite Mumbai South constituency, which is home to the country’s wealthiest industrialists, recorded the lowest turnout in the city - an estimated 47.7%. Mumbai North from where Union minister Piyush Goyal contested, recorded the highest turnout at 55.2%.
In Mumbai North East, where BJP’s Mihir Kotecha contested against NCP (SP)’s Sanjay Dina Patil amid a Marathi-Gujarati rift, the turnout was 53.7%.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at the Election Commission, accusing it of batting for the BJP and claimed that there were deliberate delays at booths favourable to its party.
“PM Modi sensed his defeat and the EC began behaving as his servant. There were long delays especially at booths where we get votes,” he alleged. He urged voters to return to booths and vote. “They should note down the names of polling staff and inform us. We are willing to go to court,” said Thackeray.
