Editor's Pick | General Election 2024: Campaigning concludes for the fifth phase

Campaigning for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Saturday. A total of 49 seats, including the high-profile constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli, will exercise their franchise on May 20. Of the 49 seats going to polls on Monday, the BJP had emerged victorious in 32 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress only managed to secure Rae Bareli. This time around, the BJP is contesting 40 seats while the Congress has limited itself to just 18 seats. The remainder is being contested by their allies. The fifth phase will determine the fate of several star candidates, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi (contesting from Rae Bareli), BJP’s Smriti Irani (Amethi), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Omar Abdullah (Baramulla) and RJD’s Rohini Acharya (Saran). The phase played host to high-pitched campaigning from the BJP and INDIA bloc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress claiming that the UPA government wanted to allocate 15% of the Budget to Muslims. At a campaign rally, Mr Modi stated that the Congress and Samajwadi Party would run a bulldozer over the Ram Temple in Ayodhya if elected to power. Congress lodged a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard. On the other hand, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge widened the gamut of poll guarantees of his party. Mr Kharge promised 10 kg of free foodgrains to the poor instead of the 5 kg being given at present. The fifth phase would see the conclusion of the voting exercise in 25 States and union territories combined. Thereafter, it would be headed into the sixth and seventh phases on May 25 and June 1 respectively. Results for all the phases would be announced on June 4. The Hindu’s Profiles Andrei Belousov | Putin’s war manager Chabahar | India’s gateway to Central Asia The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Who is the new COO of Wipro? C. Sanjay Jain Sanjeev Jain Amit Choudhary Amarendu Prakash To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 19 May 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 19 May 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( General Election 2024: Campaigning concludes for the fifth phase Campaigning for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Saturday. A total of 49 seats, including the high-profile constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli, will exercise their franchise on May 20. Of the 49 seats going to polls on Monday, the BJP had emerged victorious in 32 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congress only managed to secure Rae Bareli. This time around, the BJP is contesting 40 seats while the Congress has limited itself to just 18 seats. The remainder is being contested by their allies. The fifth phase will determine the fate of several star candidates, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi (contesting from Rae Bareli), BJP’s Smriti Irani (Amethi), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Omar Abdullah (Baramulla) and RJD’s Rohini Acharya (Saran). The phase played host to high-pitched campaigning from the BJP and INDIA bloc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress claiming that the UPA government wanted to allocate 15% of the Budget to Muslims. At a campaign rally, Mr Modi stated that the Congress and Samajwadi Party would run a bulldozer over the Ram Temple in Ayodhya if elected to power. Congress lodged a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard. On the other hand, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge widened the gamut of poll guarantees of his party. Mr Kharge promised 10 kg of free foodgrains to the poor instead of the 5 kg being given at present. The fifth phase would see the conclusion of the voting exercise in 25 States and union territories combined. Thereafter, it would be headed into the sixth and seventh phases on May 25 and June 1 respectively. Results for all the phases would be announced on June 4. The Hindu’s Profiles [Arrow][Andrei Belousov | Putin’s war manager]( [Arrow][Chabahar | India’s gateway to Central Asia]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Who is the new COO of Wipro? - C. Sanjay Jain - Sanjeev Jain - Amit Choudhary - Amarendu Prakash To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Best Reads [[N. Vaghul – A rare diamond] N. 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