Fifth phase elections begins in 51 constituencies across 7 states

Polling for 51 constituencies spread across seven states began on Monday to test the fate of some political heavyweights like Congress president Rahul Gandhi Home Minister Rajnath Singh UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti IraniVisuals from a polling booth in Amethi 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 LokSabhaElections2019 to begin at 7 am today pictwittercomiaFeUjEkZYmdash ANI UP ANINewsUP May 6 2019The polling for the fifth phase began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm amid elaborate security arrangements Appealing to voters to turn out in large numbers Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on his Twitter handle Requesting all those voting in todays 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 Indias better future I hope my young friends turn out in record numbersMadhya Pradesh Visuals from polling stations in Hoshangabad ahead of voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercomQVNOFlRLnhmdash ANI ANI May 6 2019Fourteen seats in Uttar Pradesh 12 in Rajasthan seven each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh five in Bihar and four in Jharkhand will go to polls in addition to Ladakh and Anantnag constituencies in Jammu and KashmirThis is an important phase for BJP in Uttar Pradesh since it had won 12 out of the 14 seats in the 2014 general elections The party is now facing the combined force of SP BSP and RLD which had contested separately last timeAccording to the Election Commission of India over 875 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballot to decide the fate of 674 candidates across the country As many as 96000 polling stations have been set up and security arrangements made for the smooth conduct of the electionsVisuals from polling booth no 333 in Lucknow Voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 to begin shortly pictwittercom9dpuypq1K5mdash ANI UP ANINewsUP May 6 2019Voting begins in 51 Parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercom5ZwNlf4gNimdash ANI ANI May 6 2019West Bengal Voters queue up outside a polling station in Barrackpore Voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 will begin shortly pictwittercomYoAJB8cvUKmdash ANI ANI May 6 2019Bihar Visuals from a model polling booth in Saran Voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 to begin shortly pictwittercomTLN3jBRHIEmdash ANI ANI May 6 2019In Amethi Rahul Gandhi is pitted against BJP nominee Smriti Irani who was defeated by the Congress leader in 2014 elections Sonia Gandhi who is seeking reelection from the Raebareli seat is contesting against BJPs Dinesh Pratap Singh among other candidatesBJPs Rajanth Singh SPBSPs Poonam Sinha and Congress Pramod Krishnam are in the fray from Lucknow Union ministers Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Arjun Ram Meghwal and Jayant Sinha all from BJP are contesting from Jaipur Rural and Bikaner in Rajasthan and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand respectively Also in the fray are Congress leader Jitin Prasad from Dhaurahra in UP and BJPs Rajiv Pratap Rudi from Saran in BiharIn Jharkhand two former chief ministers Babulal Marandi the leader of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Prajatantrik and Arjun Munda of BJP are contesting from the Koderma and Khunti seats respectivelyVoters queue up outside a polling station in Ayodhya Voting in 51 parliamentary constituencies across 7 states for 5th phase of LokSabhaElections2019 will begin shortly pictwittercom22M7jsfXU4mdash ANI UP ANINewsUP May 6 2019Hazaribagh Former Union Min Yashwant Sinha amp wife Nilima Sinha arrive at a polling booth to cast vote for LokSabhaElections2019 His son amp Union Minister Jayant Sinha is contesting against Congress Gopal Sahu amp CPIs Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta from the constituency Jharkhand pictwittercomr0F9V9Fffrmdash ANI ANI May 6 2019Union Minister Virendra Kumar is locked in a threecornered contest in Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh He is pitted against Kiran Ahirwar of Congress and R D Prajapati of SPFormer railway minister and TMC candidate Dinesh Trivedi is fighting against Arjun Singh of BJP and Gargi Chatterjee of CPI M from Barrackpore in West Bengal Arjun Singh a fourtime TMC MLA had switched to BJP after Trivedis nomination from the seat Campaigning for the fifth phase of the elections ended on Saturday eveningGet live updates on Elections 2019 hereThe first four phases of the polls were held on April 11 18 23 and 29 After the fifth phase tomorrow the sixth and seventh phases will take place on May 12 and May 19 respectively The counting of votes is scheduled on May 23Watch VideoCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesEdited by midday online desk with inputs from Agencies