LS polls LIVE | Phase 2 records 60% voter turnout; Tripura highest at 77.53%
EVM glitches, bogus voting reported in Kerala and Bengal; voters in a few villages in UP's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani boycott polls
A voter turnout of over 60 per cent was recorded till 6 pm on Friday (April 26) in the second phase of polling across 88 Lok Sabha seats in 13 states and Union territories. Tripura logged the highest voting percentage at 77.53 per cent while Uttar Pradesh recorded the lowest at 52.74 per cent. The polling percentage is expected to go up in the final tally.
Manipur recorded the second-highest voter turnout at 76.06 per cent followed by West Bengal (71.84 per cent) and Assam (70.66 per cent).
Kerala, which went for single phase polls on Friday had a polling percentage of 70 per cent.
Fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka recorded a voter turnout of 63.9 percent, with Mandya recording the highest (74 percent) and Bangalore Central the lowest (49 percent). Bengaluru once again recorded low turnout across constituencies.
The polling percentage recorded in the rest of the states were – Bihar (53.03 per cent), Chhattisgarh (72.13 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (67.22 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (54.83 per cent), Maharashtra (53.51 per cent), and Rajasthan (59.19 per cent).
While complaints of EVM glitches and bogus voting were received from some booths in Kerala and West Bengal, voters in a few villages in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani boycotted polls over various issues.
Polling for the second stage of the seven-phase elections started at 7 am and stretched beyond the stipulated 6 pm in several states where long queues were witnessed post dusk. Intense heat wave condition prevented many voters from visiting the polling booths in the day.
Till 3 pm, Tripura recorded the highest polling percentage (68.92 per cent) while the lowest turnout was in Maharashtra at 43.01 per cent.
“Aggregate turnout at 3 pm in Phase 2 is 50.25 per cent," the Election Commission said in a statement.
Polling was held in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh (Cong), and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) are among the key candidates while BJP's Hema Malini, Om Birla and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.
Stressing on the importance of each vote, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi issued impassioned appeals asking people to step out and exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election.
3 dead in Kerala
In Kerala, the turnout was 51.64 per cent. As the day progressed, people continued to queue up in increasing numbers outside the over 25,000 polling booths in the state to cast their vote.
The election process, held amid tight security arrangements, was primarily incident free except for instances of bogus voting and breakdowns of electronic voting machines (EVMs) being reported in some booths of the state. Such incidents resulted in delaying the polling process in the affected booths.
One person each reportedly died at Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram after casting their vote and a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kozhikode.
In Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, recorded a turnout of 68.92 per cent till 3 pm. Election officials said there were some complaints from a few booths but those were "promptly addressed".
A jawan of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Force deployed on poll duty allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at a government school where he was stationed in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat in Chhattisgarh, where a voter turnout of 63.92 per cent was recorded till 3 pm.
Newly-weds come to cast ballots
A polling booth at Sivni village in Balod district (Kanker seat) was decorated like a wedding 'mandap', with a display of rituals of traditional weddings. Several brides and grooms, dressed in their wedding finery, cast their votes at several polling booths. In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, there was a turnout of 46.68 per cent till 3 pm.
An estimated 60.32 per cent of the 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in the five parliamentary constituencies of Assam. In restive Manipur, where polling is being held under high presence of security personnel, the turnout was a high 68.48 per cent.
Out of 14 segments that are going to polls in Karnataka, the highest turnout of 58.76 per cent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur at 57.49 per cent. The least was 40.10 percent in Bangalore Central. The turnout was 40.77 per cent in Bangalore South and 41.12 per cent in Bangalore North.
Free food for those with inked fingers
Various restaurants in Bangalore were offering free dosas, laddu, coffee and other food items at discounted rates to customers who cast their vote. Till 3 pm, the voting percentage in Karnataka was 50.93.
A private hospital assisted 41 inpatients cast their vote with the help of city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Green corridors were created for the ambulances across constituencies to ensure easy, hassle-free voting.
A voter turnout of 43.01 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in eight constituencies in Maharashtra, while in Rajasthan, the turnout was 50.27 per cent. Incidents of confrontation between the supporters of the Congress candidate and an independent candidate were reported at a couple of places during polling in Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan.
Police said they were looking into the complaints besides some about fake voting from some places.
A voter turnout of 44.13 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh. Senior citizens dominated the early hours of voting in Noida in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency. Some residents' welfare associations made arrangements for electric vehicles to ferry voters to and from the polling booths.
In Bihar, the turnout was 44.24 per cent, 60.60 per cent in in West Bengal and 57.76 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir.
After Friday's phase, polling will be over in Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura. In the first phase on April 19, polling was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1).
The third phase of elections for 94 seats across 12 states and Union territories will be held on May 7. Counting will be done on June 4.
Live Updates
- 26 April 2024 3:57 PM GMT
Low voting in Bengaluru again
Fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka recorded a voter turnout of 63.9 percent in the second phase of general elections on Friday. Mandya reported the highest voting, with 74 percent, while Bangalore Central recorded the lowest, with 49 percent.Here is Karnataka tally
Udupi/Chikmagalur: 72.1%
Hassan: 72.1%
Dakshina Kannada: 71.8%
Chitradurga: 67%
Tumkur: 72.1%
Mandya: 74.9%
Mysore: 65.8%
Chamarajanagar: 69.6%
Bangalore Rural: 61.7%
Bangalore North: 50%
Bangalore Central: 48.6%
Bangalore South: 49.3%
Chikkaballapur: 70.9%
Kolar: 71.26%
- 26 April 2024 2:42 PM GMT
Voter turnout till 5 pm for phase 2
Assam 70.66%
Bihar 53.03%
Chhattisgarh 72.13%
Jammu And Kashmir 67.22%
Karnataka 63.90%
Kerala 63.97%
Madhya Pradesh 54.83%
Maharashtra 53.51%
Manipur 76.06%
Rajasthan 59.19%
Tripura 77.53%
Uttar Pradesh 52.74%
West Bengal 71.84%
- 26 April 2024 2:40 PM GMT
#WATCH | Manipur: Voting concludes in Ukhrul for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. EVMs, and VVPATs machines are being sealed. #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/DwEL2jiBhZ
— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2024 - 26 April 2024 1:34 PM GMT
72.13% turnout till 5 pm in 3 LS seats in Chhattisgarh; cop on poll duty dies by suicide
More than 72 per cent of voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm in three Lok Sabha constituencies, all having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh, where the second phase of the general elections was held on Friday, officials said While polling took place amid tight security, a policeman deployed on election duty allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with a service weapon in Gariaband district during the day.
Polling began in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies at 7 am and was held in different time slots. A turnout of 72.13 per cent was registered till 5 pm, an election official said.
Of the eight assembly segments in the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency, polling ended at 3 pm in Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Keshkal and Kanker assembly segments, while in Sihawa, Sanjari-Balod, Daundilohara and Gunderdehi it concluded at 6 pm, he said.
In the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency, polling in the Manpur-Mohla assembly segment ended at 3 pm, and in the seven other assembly segments, it concluded at 6 pm.
The polling was held in the Mahasamund constituency till 6 pm, except in nine sensitive polling booths under the Bindranawagarh assembly segment, where it ended at 3 pm.
The tribal-dominated Kanker seat recorded a 73.50 per cent turnout, Mahasamund 71.13 per cent and Rajnandgaon 71.87 per cent till 5 pm, the official said.
The voting figure may go up as they are yet to receive the final data from several booths, he said.
Among the early voters, state assembly speaker and former chief minister Raman Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, former MP Abhishek Singh cast their votes in Kawardha town (Rajnandgaon seat), BJP candidate Santosh Pandey and his wife at Sahaspur-Lohara in Rajnandgaon, BJP candidate Rupkumari Chaudhary in Harratar village in Mahasamund, BJP candidate Bhojraj Nag and his wife at Antagarh in Kanker.
According to the police, a jawan of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Force deployed on poll duty allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at a government school where he was stationed in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat.
A polling booth at Sivni village in Balod district (Kanker seat) was decorated like a wedding 'mandap', with a display of rituals of traditional weddings.
Brides and grooms, dressed in their wedding finery, cast their votes at several polling booths in the three seats.
In all, 41 candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former state home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, are in the fray in three seats in a direct fight between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress.
In the 2019 polls, the voter turnout in Kanker Lok Sabha seat stood at 74.27 per cent, Mahasamund at 74.51 per cent and Rajnandgaon at 76.04 per cent.
- 26 April 2024 1:33 PM GMT
Tripura East LS seat registers 79.50 pc voter turnout till 5 pm
The Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency recorded a voter turnout of 79.50 per cent till 5 pm on Friday, as polling remained peaceful so far, an official said.
The voter turnout may cross 80 per cent as many voters were seen standing in queues at polling stations even after 5 pm, said Returning Officer (RO), Saju Vaheed.
Voters came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise since morning, he said.
"Queues were seen in almost all the booths till the last reports came in. Tribals, too, took part in voting in the interior areas amid tight security... The polling remained largely free, fair and peaceful," the official said.
Security has been beefed up in the areas where polling went on beyond 5 pm due to various reasons, he said.
The Returning officer said the Election Commission received some complaints from a few booths, but those were "promptly addressed".
Nearly 14 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of nine candidates including that of BJP nominee Kriti Devi Debbarman and CPI(M) leader and INDIA Bloc candidate Rajendra Reang.
- 26 April 2024 1:28 PM GMT
Over 53% polling till 5 pm in 8 LS seats of Maharashtra
A voter turnout of 53.51 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in eight constituencies of Maharashtra in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.
Voting was held between 7 am and 6 pm in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in the central Marathwada region.
Till 5 pm, Wardha recorded 56.66 per cent turnout, Amravati 54.50, Yavatmal-Washim 54.04, Parbhani 53.79, Akola 52.49, Nanded 52.47, Buldhana 52.24 and Hingoli 52.03, election officials said.
No untoward incident was reported during polling in these constituencies and the process went off largely in a peaceful manner, they said.
At Rampuri in Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, a 26-year-old man allegedly damaged an electronic voting machine (EVM) by hitting it with an iron object when he came to cast his vote around 4 pm, a police official said.
He was detained and during his questioning, he told the police that he wanted a pro-farmer and pro-labourer government in power, he said.
According to officials, there were a total of 204 candidates in the fray -- 21 in Buldhana, 15 in Akola, 37 in Amravati, 24 in Wardha, 17 in Yavatmal-Washim, 33 in Hingoli, 23 in Nanded and 34 in Parbhani.
As many as 1.49 crore voters (77,21,374 men, 72,04,106 women and 432 persons from third gender category) were eligible to cast ballots across 16,589 polling centres.
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who recently switched over from the Congress to the BJP, voted along with his family members in the initial hours in Nanded.
On April 19, five seats in eastern Vidarbha – Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia and Gadchiroli-Chimur – went to polls, registering a voter turnout of 63.70 per cent.
Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim and Hingoli are seeing a direct contest between the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT).
The undivided Shiv Sena contested the last general elections in the state in alliance with the BJP. It split in 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion, toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and joined hands with the BJP to become the CM.
In Buldhana, sitting Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav is pitted against Narendra Khedekar of Sena (UBT).
The Shiv Sena has nominated Rajashri Patil in Yavatmal-Washim, dropping sitting MP Bhavana Gawli. Patil is pitted against Sanjay Deshmukh of the Thackeray-led party.
In Hingoli, Rajashtri Patil's husband and sitting MP Hemant Patil was replaced by the Shiv Sena, which gave the ticket to Baburao Kohalikar. The Sena nominee is contesting against Nagesh Patil Ashtikar of Sena (UBT).
In Parbhani, Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha is contesting against MP Sanjay Jadhav, nominated by the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Jankar has been backed by the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, Shiv Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar, who heads the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), has fielded candidates in seven seats, including himself from Akola. His brother Anandraj Ambedkar is in the fray in Amravati as a Republican Sena nominee.
In Akola, the contest is between Anup Dhotre of BJP and Abhay Patil of Congress, with Prakash Ambedkar as the third candidate.
Amravati is seeing a battle between MP Navneet Rana, now contesting as a BJP nominee, against Balwant Wankhede of Congress. Dinesh Bub is the Prahar Janshakti Party candidate. The Prahar party, which has two legislators in the assembly, is an ally of the ruling coalition.
In Wardha, there is a fight between former Congress MLA Amar Kale, contesting on the symbol of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) – "a man blowing turha" (a traditional trumpet) – against BJP MP Ramdas Tadas.
In Nanded, BJP MP Pratap Chikhalikar is pitted against Congress nominee Vasant Chavan.
Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh, will vote in three more phases between May 7 and May 20.
