Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, May 5: Polling for the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election will be held today, May 6. A total of 674 candidates, including 79 (12%) female are in the fray for 51 parliamentary seats (including Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency) spread across seven states.
The states that will go to polls in the fifth phase are Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Voting will begin at 7 am.
It may be mentioned that polling in the 3-Anantnag parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir is being conducted in three phases. It began in the third phase held on April 23, and will conclude in this phase. Eighteen candidates are in the fray for this constituency segment.
In the wake of violent instances being reported in West Bengal in the previous phases of polling, the Election Commission of India has decided to replace state police personnel with the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for this phase. The central forces will be deployed inside all the polling booths in the state.
Key constituencies
Some of the big names, whose fate will be decided today are Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli), Congress president Rahul Gandhi (Amethi), Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani (Amethi), Union Minister of State for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore (Jaipur Rural), Union Minister and BJP leader Jayant Sinha (Hazaribagh), Union Minister Ram Meghwal (Bikaner), and three-time MP Ganesh Singh (Satna).
The National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 668 out of 674 candidates (excluding Anantnag constituency) who are contesting in Phase V, has revealed that 19% of the candidates has declared criminal cases against themselves. A total of 184 (28%) candidates are crorepatis and the average asset of the candidates is INR 2.57 crore.
Criminal background of candidates based on affidavits filed with ECI
– 126 (19%) candidates have criminal cases
– 95 (14%) have serious criminal cases
– Six have convicted cases against them
– Three have cases related to murder
– 21 have cases related to attempt to murder
– Five candidates have cases related to kidnapping
– Nine candidates have cases related to crime against women
– Five candidates have cases related to hate speech
Interesting facts about candidates in Phase IV
– Poonam Shatrughan Sinha, who is contesting from Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) is the richest among the candidates contesting in this phase with an asset of INR 193 cr.
– Narayan Das Jatav (Tikamgarh, MP), Guru Gokulchand Rashtarwadi (Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan), and Munni (Kaiserganj, UP) have zero asset
– Rinku Kumar Meena and Dwarka Prasad (Dausa, Rajasthan) have lowest assets with INR 1000
– Rafique Mandelia (Churu, Rajasthan) has highest liabilities with INR 46 cr.
– Educational qualification of 264 (40%) candidates is between 5th and 12th
– 348 (52%) candidates are graduates and above, 43 literate, and six illiterate.
The general election 2019 is being held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. Counting of votes for 542 constituencies (Election in Vellore constituency cancelled) will be conducted on May 23 and the results will be declared on the same day.
