Congress' Mumbai North Central candidate Varsha Gaikwad casts vote during fifth phase in Mumbai

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 20 (ANI): Congress candidate from Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, Varsha Gaikwad casts her vote during the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai on Monday.
BJP has fielded Ujjwal Nikam from the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, replacing two-time MP Poonam Mahajan against Congress' Varsha Gaikwad.
Varsha Gaikwad is currently serving as Dharavi MLA. Nikam, a senior Public Prosecutor, has appeared for the government in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.
Earlier, Piyush Goyal who is BJP's candidate from North Mumbai cast his vote for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai. Piyush Goyal is standing against Bhushan Patil from Congress.
After casting his vote at a polling booth in Mumbai, Goyal told reporters, "The fifth phase of polling is underway in Mumbai and the rest of the country. Just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi said everyone should take part in the festival of democracy...I believe that the people of Mumbai will come out in large numbers and exercise their right to vote..."
Polling is underway in 13 Parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra including six in Mumbai. The seats are Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central.
The Mumbai North Central comprises six assembly segments, including Vile Parle, Chandivali, Kurla, Kalina, Vandre East, and Vandre West.
The other constituencies of Maharashtra where polling is underway include Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi and Thane.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second largest after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
Voting for the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 began on Monday morning across 49 parliamentary constituencies spread over six states and two Union Territories (UTs) amid tight security and arrangements.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), polling for 35 assembly constituencies of the Odisha legislative assembly will also take place simultaneously on Monday.
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.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4. (ANI)