LS Polls 2024: Indian Cricketers Suryakumar Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane Cast Vote In Mumbai

Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane and his wife cast their vote on Monday during phase 5 of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Mumbai. Rahane took to his official social media handle and shared a picture with his wife as they flaunted their inked fingers after casting votes in Mumbai. While sharing the photo on social media, he wrote, "We did our duty. Have you?"

Star India batter Suryakumar Yadav cast his vote during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai on Monday and also urged his citizens to perform their duty as voters. India's 360-degree batter took to X and shared a picture of him showing off his inked finger, urging people to "shape the future of our nation".

"Let's shape the future of our nation by casting our vote today," tweeted Suryakumar.

On the work front, Suryakumar recently featured for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). MI finished at the bottom of the points table with four wins, 10 losses and eight points.

Suryakumar had a mixed IPL campaign, scoring 345 runs in 11 matches at an average of 34.50 and a strike rate of 167.47. Though he scored a century, a knock of 102* against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and three half-centuries, Suryakumar had a patchy form and recorded six scores below 20 runs, including three ducks.

He would be next in action during the ICC T20 World Cup from June 1 onwards at West Indies and the USA. With his supreme T20I stats and status as the world's number-one ranked T20I batter, he is expected to play a big role in India's campaign. In 60 T20Is, he has scored 2,141 runs at an average of 45.55 and a strike rate of 171.55, with four centuries and 17 fifties. His best score is 117.

The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections marks an important part of the seven-phase electoral process, with extensive arrangements made to ensure a smooth and secure voting experience for all citizens. 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 fifth phase witnesses 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.