When India voted in Phase 5 of Lok Sabha polls: An hour-by-hour look at when states went to the polls

During the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls conducted on Monday across seven states, an average turnout of over 62 percent was recorded. According to the Election Commission, over 57.33 percent of 2.47 crore eligible people cast their vote in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, where political heavyweights like the Congress’ Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani were in the fray. In Rajasthan, 63.78 percent polling was recorded in 12 seats, while it was 63.88 percent in seven constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, 57.86 percent five seats in Bihar and 63.72 in four seats in Jharkhand that went to polls on Monday. The voter turnout was 74.42 percent in seven seats in West Bengal, where incidents of Trinamool Congress and BJP workers attacking each other, hurling of bombs, injury to a candidate due to lathicharge by central forces, manhandling of a contestant and beating up of a polling agent were reported in Bangaon (SC), Barrackpore, Hooghly and Howrah constituencies. In Jammu and Kashmir, 64 per cent polling was recorded in Ladakh but the turnout was barely three percent in militancy-infested Shopian and Pulwama districts in the final of the three-phase election to Anantnag constituency held amid militant threats and boycott call by separatists in Kashmir. Militants lobbed a grenade towards Rohmoo polling station and set off an explosion at another polling booth in Tral in Pulwama but no one was injured in the two incidents. With inputs from PTI