Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar cast his vote during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Monday at Mumbai. Notably, Tendulkar has been recognised as the ‘national icon’ of the Election Commission (EC) to raise voter awareness in the electoral process. His son, Arjun Tendulkar, who plays for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI), was also present with his father. Also, his wife Anjali and daughter, Sara, could not make it to Mumbai because of the latter’s post-graduation convocation ceremony, as per sources. Later, Sachin and Arjun showed off their inked finger after voting.

“I would like to say that problems happen because, one, you act without thinking, and two, you just keep thinking but do not act. I would urge people to cast their vote. It is extremely important for our nation’s future,” said Tendulkar to the media.

Sachin is the leading run-scorer in international cricket, with 34,357 runs and 100 centuries in 664 international games. He is the only cricketer with a century of experience in international cricket. Sachin was also part of the Indian team that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

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.