New Delhi: Parents-to-be Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh stepped out to cast their votes in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections. The Bollywood power couple, dressed in white, were beaming with happiness as they reached the polling booth in Mumbai.

Deepika, glowing with her pregnancy glow, wore an oversized white shirt and light blue denims that showed off her baby bump, while Ranveer wore a matching white outfit. The duo’s presence was filled with cheers and camera flashes as the shutterbugs clicked them, embodying the spirit of civic responsibility. To avoid the crowd, Ranveer opened the door for his wife and held her hand the whole time.

Joining the election excitement was veteran actor Anupam Kher, who stressed the importance of voting. After casting his vote, Kher told ANI, “Today is the festival of democracy and we should come out and vote to elect our government for the next five years.”

He further stressed, ‘If you do not vote today, you have no right to complain about the government for the next five years.’

Many prominent Bollywood celebrities performed their civic duties in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai. Earlier in the day, veteran star Dharmendra was seen casting his vote at Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu.

Other stars including Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor were also seen at various polling stations across the city.

This phase of elections covers six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai: Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central.

Additionally, constituencies from Maharashtra like Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi and Thane are also participating.

Maharashtra, with 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second largest state in terms of parliamentary constituencies after Uttar Pradesh. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections, held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, have been marked by significant voter participation.

The final results are scheduled to be declared on June 4.

Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, to ensure that all voters in the queue can cast their vote by the closing time.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), more than 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore men, 4.26 crore women and 5409 third-gender voters, will decide the fate of 695 candidates in this crucial phase.

The fifth phase has key contests in various constituencies, including Rahul Gandhi, BJP leader Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Notable leaders include. Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya.

To ensure a peaceful polling environment, the Election Commission has deployed extensive security measures, including 2,000 flying squads, 2105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams and 502 video surveillance teams. These teams are monitoring 94,732 polling stations round the clock, ensuring a smooth and safe polling process.

As the day progresses, enthusiastic participation of voters continues.