New Delhi/IBNS: The Election Commission of India is all geared up for Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday with voting scheduled on 49 Parliament constituencies across 8 States/UTs. 

Polling for 35 Assembly Constituencies of the Odisha Legislative Assembly will also take place simultaneously.

Until now, the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 has seen the voter turnout at polling stations of about 66.95 percent. Around 451 million people have already voted, during the first four phases of ongoing general elections.

Elections will be held in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Lucknow are going to polls in this phase, which has in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting.

The commission has especially urged these city-dwellers to erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers.

ECI has partnered with a host of prominent figures and Bollywood celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan among others to appeal to and motivate voters to cast their votes.

The remaining 3 phases of polls will continue till the 1st of June with the counting of votes scheduled on June4.

Polling for 23 states/UTs and 379 PCs was completed smoothly and peacefully in the first four phases, according to the poll body.

A total of 2000 Flying Squads, 2105 Static Surveillance Teams, 881 Video Surveillance Teams and 502 Video Viewing Teams are keeping surveillance round the clock to deal with any form of inducement of voters strictly and swiftly.