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Veteran actress Shubha Khote, who is in her 80s, arrived at a polling booth in Mumbai early Monday morning to cast her vote in the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to media persons after voting, Shubha said she did not opt for the facility of home-voting as she wanted to inspire her fellow citizens to step out and exercise their right to vote. "I have voted for the right candidate. I did not opt for home-voting and voted here so that people get inspired and come out and vote...," said 86, year-old Shubha, a film and TV actress, who is famed for her roles in 'Junoon', 'Zabaan Sambhal Ke' and 'Andaaz' among others. She has acted in Hindi and Marathi films and TV serials. Elections in six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai began today. These include Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central. The other constituencies of Maharashtra that are a part of the ongoing election in the fifth phase include Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi and Thane.Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second largest after Uttar Pradesh. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases running from April 19 to June 1. The counting and results will be declared on June 4.The voting started at 7 am and will continue until 6 pm, with those in line by the closing time still allowed to vote. As per the ECI, over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5409 third-gender electors, will decide the fate of 695 candidates in the fifth phase of voting. The fifth phase witnesses key 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 looking for electoral success. Eight states/UTs going for polls in phase 5 are: Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats that vote today, apart from 13 in Maharashtra, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In a bid to create a peaceful atmosphere for the electors, a total of 2,000 flying squads, 2105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams are keeping surveillance round the clock across the 94,732 polling stations. (ANI)
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