Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Raebareli District Magistrate Talks About Preparations To Set Up Polling Booths Across The Constituency | NewsX Exclusive

As the voting for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections commences on Monday at 7 am, The voters have flocked to the polling booths in large numbers. This phase involves 49 constituencies across eight states and union territories, with 695 candidates competing. This phase will mark the smallest phase in terms of constituencies.

The states and union territories participating in the 5th phase of the General Assembly elections are Jharkhand (3), Odisha (5), Uttar Pradesh (14), Bihar (5), Maharashtra (13), West Bengal (7), Ladakh (1), and Jammu and Kashmir (1). Once voting concludes in these 49 constituencies, a total of 428 out of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats will have been contested since the elections began on April 19. Concurrently, polling for 35 assembly constituencies in the Odisha Legislative Assembly will also occur on Monday.

Marking the beginning of the fifth phase, NewsX bagged an exclusive conversation with the Raebareli District Magistrate, Harshita Mathur. Mathur gave a detailed account on the preparations that went behind setting up a Pink polling booth at SPSC which has been one of the model polling booth. She elaborated that all the minimum assured facilities that had been stipulated by the Election Commission of India have been provided at all the polling booths in the district. “We have provided all of those facilities that have been enlisted as prerequisites at the 2236 booths that have been set up in the district,” she asserted.

She further explained that since the polling booth was set up as a pink polling booth, it was manned entirely by all the women officials and all the other facilities which have been specifically asked for keeping the heatwave in mind have also been effectively provided by the authorities.

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Talking about the political turnup which designated Raebareli as a hot seat for this year’s Lok Sabha Elections and elaborating on her experience while working in the constituency during the elections, she stated, “I would say that all our parliamentary constituencies’ teams have done a good work in the administration as per the instructions of the Commission. Similarly, we are also ensuring that all the rules and regulations are being adhered to at the polling booths.”

Further addressing the issue of sensitivity in Raebareli, she asserted that the authorities have made all the necessary preparations considering the sensitivity of the people and the parliamentary constituencies. She added that her experience, working in the constiuency has been good. “Our effort is that all the voters are able toreach the polling booth and are able to exercise their right to voter in a fearless environment and without any inconvenience,” She concluded.

The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha Elections for the year 2024, has several prominent candidates in the race, including union minister Smriti Irani, seeking a second term from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, union ministers Rajnath Singh (Lucknow) and Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (Raebareli), LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan (Hajipur), Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan), National Conference leader Omar Abdullah (Baramulla), and RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya (Saran).  It has also been reported that Over 8.95 crore voters are expected to participate in the fifth phase.