Akshay Kumar casts early vote in Mumbai as fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 kicks off

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 20 : Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar was among the early voters to exercise his franchise at a polling booth in Mumbai, as the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra commenced on Monday.
Dressed in a green shirt and blue pants, the 'Hera Pheri' star made his way to the polling station early in the morning.
After casting his vote, Kumar addressed the media, stating, "I want my India to be developed and strong. I voted keeping that in mind. India should vote for what they deem is right...I think voter turnout will be good."
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"I think this time more people will come to cast their vote. I came early at 7 am and the polling booth was open. I saw almost 500-600 people were in attendance," he added.
Bollywood siblings Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar also stepped out early morning on Monday to exercise their right to vote amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Elections in 6 Lok Sabha seats of Mumbai are underway for Phase 5. The seats are 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 will witness 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.