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Actor-turned-politician Govinda on Monday morning arrived at a polling booth in Mumbai and exercised his right to vote during the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections.
After casting his vote, Govinda sent out an important message to fellow citizens of the country while speaking to media. He simply said, "Ghar se bahar aaye aur vote kare (Please come out of your house and vote)." Joining him in the democratic exercise was his son, Yashvardhan. His wife Sunita also cast her vote and she even urged all to step out and cast their vote. Notably, in March 2024, Govinda made a comeback in politics after 14 years as he joined the Shiv Sena party in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai. Welcoming his entry into the party, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that "Govinda's administrative experience earlier will prove useful to the party". Speaking on the occasion, an emotional Govinda, who started his acting career in the 1980s and whose films were family entertainers, said after his first stint in politics from 2004 to 2009, he never felt he would again come back to the same field. "I am back (in politics) after a 14-year-long 'vanvas' (exile)," he remarked. In 2004, Govind successfully contested the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket, defeating veteran BJP leader Ram Naik. However, he later resigned from the Congress party. Meanwhile, the voting on Monday 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, 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. 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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