As voting commenced on Monday in Mumbai for the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, numerous notable personalities exercised their right to vote. Among them was veteran actor Anil Kapoor, who cast his vote at a polling booth in the city.
After voting, Anil Kapoor urged everyone to utilize their voting power. “I have cast my vote. All citizens of India should vote,” Anil told ANI.
Earlier in the day, celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar, Suniel Shetty, Kunal Kemmu, Neha Dhupia, Mahesh Bhatt, and Govinda were seen arriving at their respective polling stations to cast their votes.
Voting on Monday began at 7 am and will continue until 6 pm, with those in line by closing time still allowed to vote. According to the ECI, over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5409 third-gender electors, will determine the fate of 695 candidates in this phase.
The fifth phase features significant contests in various constituencies. Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya are vying for electoral success. The eight states/UTs participating in phase 5 include Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
To ensure a peaceful voting environment, a total of 2,000 flying squads, 2105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams are monitoring the 94,732 polling stations round the clock.