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 2:17 PM IST
Voter turnout till 1 pm
Assam 46.31%
Bihar 33.80%
Chhattisgarh 53.09%
Jammu And Kashmir 42.88%
Karnataka 38.23%
Kerala 39.26%
Madhya Pradesh 38.96%
Maharashtra 31.77%
Manipur 54.26%
Rajasthan 40.39%
Tripura 54.47%
Uttar Pradesh 35.73%
West Bengal 47.29%
- 26 April 2024 2:11 PM IST
Village in Maharashtra decides to boycott LS polls over issue of encroachments
Residents of a village in the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency decided to boycott the elections on Friday to protest against the issue of encroachments, prompting the collector to visit the place and appeal to them.
Polling in Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in Marathwada began on Friday morning.
Parbhani Collector and returning officer Raghunath Gawde arrived at Balsa Khurd village, located around 7 km from Parbhani city, and interacted with villagers, urging them to vote.
The village, which has 1,200 voters, boycotted the elections over the longstanding issue of encroachments.
The collector held a meeting with villagers, who sought assurance from the administration that the problem would be solved.
"We will hold a meeting on the encroachment issue once the election code of conduct is lifted, and the problem will be addressed in a month," Gawde said.
Villagers will exercise their franchise if the administration gives a written assurance about resolving the issue, a resident of the village said.
- 26 April 2024 2:10 PM IST
Google Doodle marks second phase of Lok Sabha polls with voting symbol
Google marked the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with a colourful doodle on its homepage on Friday celebrating the inked index finger, which signals that a person has voted.
Elections are being held across 88 seats in 13 states and Union Territories.
The Google Doodle by the American tech giant shows an index finger marked with indelible ink replacing the 'O' in the logo spelling out its name. The indelible purple ink is generally applied on the left-hand index finger of a voter to prevent duplication of voting. It has come to be recognised as a symbol of pride among voters who have participated in the election process.
It is a common scene to see voters clicking photos outside polling booths, showing the 'inked' finger.
Clicking on the doodle leads to Google's search page, showing latest updates and news stories on the elections.
Google had put the same doodle on April 19 to mark the first phase of the Lok Sabha Elections.
- 26 April 2024 2:06 PM IST
38.96% polling in six seats in MP till 1 pm
About 38.96 per cent of voters cast their ballots till 1 am in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said.
The polling began at 7 am and is going on peacefully in all the six Lok Sabha seats, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan told PTI.
Till 1 pm, Damoh had recorded a voter turnout of 37.57 per cent, Hoshangabad 45.71, Khajuraho 37.89, Rewa 31.85, Satna 40.83 and Tikamgarh 40.21, the official said.
Union minister Prahlad Patel voted in the Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019, while Union minister and sitting MP Virendra Kumar and his wife exercised their franchise in Tikamgarh.
- 26 April 2024 2:05 PM IST
UP records over 35% voting in 8 constituencies till 1 pm
A voter turnout of 35.73 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in phase two of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, according to officials.
The polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
Voting in Uttar Pradesh in the second phase is underway in Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura constituencies.
Election Commission (EC) officials said 40.67 per cent votes were polled in Amroha, 38.33 per cent in Meerut, 34.17 per cent in Baghpat, 33.99 per cent in Ghaziabad, 36.05 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 35.35 in Bulandshahr, 35.55 per cent in Aligarh and 32.70 in Mathura till 11 am.
There are more than 1.67 crore voters, 7,797 polling stations and 17,704 polling booths in these eight Lok Sabha constituencies.
- 26 April 2024 1:41 PM IST
Over 26% polling in Jammu LS seat in first 4 hours
More than 26 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling in Jammu constituency in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.
Voting began at 7 am in the 2,416 polling stations in the constituency and is going on peacefully, Jammu and Kashmir election officials said.
They added that 26.61 per cent votes were polled till 11 am. There are more than 17.80 lakh eligible voters in the constituency.
Electors are casting their votes to decide the fate of 22 candidates, including sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, who is eyeing a third term after winning the seat for the BJP in 2014 and 2019. The INDIA bloc has fielded Jammu and Kashmir Congress working president Raman Bhalla.
The Lok Sabha poll is the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.
The highest voter turnout (33.79 per cent) was recorded in Jammu Lok Sabha constituency's Reasi assembly segment till 11 am, the officials said.
Jammu recorded a voter turnout of 74 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
