India begins voting in fifth phase as Mumbai and Gandhi family municipalities head to the polls

• Several high-profile candidates are in contention.
• The biggest election in the world will conclude on June 1st.
• Rahul Gandhi contested seat of Raebareli.
  

MUMBAI: India began voting in the fifth phase of its general election on Monday, with seats in the financial capital Mumbai and strongholds of the opposition Gandhi family sealed in the final legs of seven-phase voting.

The world’s biggest election started on April 19 and will end on June 1, with votes being counted on June 4.

Monday’s phase has the fewest contested seats, with 89.5 million voters choosing representatives for 49 seats.

Several high-profile candidates are in the fray on Monday – including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal from Mumbai – cities that have suffered dismal turnouts in the past.

The Election Commission on Sunday specifically called on residents of these cities to “erase the stigma” of urban apathy.

“At the core of our vision for Mumbai is — better infrastructure and more ‘livability,'” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while campaigning in the city last week, days after at least 14 people were killed when a huge billboard fell on duration of downpour.

Two municipalities of the Congress party’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in politically critical Uttar Pradesh will also go to polls, with scion Rahul Gandhi contesting the Raebareli seat, in addition to Wyad in the south which has already voted. India allows candidates to contest multiple constituencies but represent only one.

Congress party chief and former MP from Raebareli Sonia Gandhi made an emotional appeal to voters asking them to vote for her son in a constituency where the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruled for the past 10 years.

Smriti Irani, minister for women and child development, is contesting from Amethi. In 2019, he defeated Rahul Gandhi in a seat that his family had continuously held for the last four decades.

Among the other hotly watched constituencies in the state is Kaiserganj, where the BJP is fielding the son of a former wrestling federation chief despite his father being accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers.

Poor voter turnout was a concern for the ruling BJP initially, and analysts believe the low numbers cast doubt on the landslide victory the party and its allies were seeking.

After an initial poor performance, more people started voting with an average turnout of 66.95% in four phases and 69% in the fourth on May 13.

Modi, who is widely expected to return as prime minister for a third consecutive term, has been accused by opponents of targeting minority Muslims to please hardline voters.

Modi has repeatedly accused the Congress party of planning to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of disadvantaged tribal groups and Hindu castes, a claim Congress has denied.

In a recent television interview aired after the fourth phase, Modi said he was determined not to “make Hindu-Muslims (in politics)”.

The opposition INDIA alliance of the Congress and a dozen political parties received a major boost after fierce Modi critic and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was granted temporary relief by a court and allowed to campaign in the election.