5th phase of polling: J&K's Baramulla beats key urban centres

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday said nearly 58 per cent voter turnout (until 8.30 pm) was recorded on 49 seats that went to the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir headed for its best voter turnout at least since 1984.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

With the conclusion of the fifth phase, voting has concluded on 428, or 79 per cent, of the seats, and 25 states and Union Territories, including Maharashtra, that had their final phase of polling on Monday. The big story of Monday's polling was the relatively high turnout of 59 per cent in Baramulla, in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the highest turnout in this constituency since 1984 when 61.1 per cent polling was registered, according to the EC's website.

However, the UT's chief electoral officer, PK Pole, said the 2024 turnout on a violence-free polling day was the highest ever in this constituency, pipping 1984's 58.90 per cent. In 2019, along with Anantnag and Srinagar, the Baramulla constituency registered the third-worst voter turnout across the country at 34.6 per cent.

For Phase V, the EC had appealed to the "city dwellers" of Lucknow, Thane, and Mumbai, which have "in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting", to "erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers".