Lok Sabha polls, Phase 2, Live Updates: Tripura records highest voting percentage in first four hours, Maharashtra lowest

One elderly person also reportedly died in Ottapalam area of Palakkad district after casting his vote

Voters wait in a queue at a polling station to cast their votes for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Kozhikode.: PTI picture.

PTI, New Delhi, 26.04.24 : .Tripura: Over 39 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first six hours of polling on Friday in phase two of the Lok Sabha elections covering 88 seats in 13 states and Union territories amidst reports of EVM glitches and bogus voting in some booths in Kerala and West Bengal. Voters in four villages of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani boycotted polls over various issues."Aggregate turnout at 1 pm in Phase 2 is 39.13 percent," the Election Commission said in a statement.

Assam: An estimated 46.31 per cent of 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise till 1 pm in the five parliamentary constituencies of Assam, where polling is underway in the second phase on Friday, election officials said. The highest polling of 49.72 per cent was recorded in Darrang-Udalguri, closely followed by 49.14 per cent in Karimganj, 46.40 per cent in Diphu (ST), 44.48 per cent in Nagaon and 40.23 per cent in Silchar, they said.The prominent candidates who exercised their franchise are Assam Minister for Excise, Transport and Fisheries Parimal Suklabaidya and his Congress rival Surya Kanta Sarkar in Silchar (SC), Congress candidate Joyram Engleng in Diphu (ST) and sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi in Nagaon.

Maharashtra: A voter turnout of 31.77 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Friday in eight constituencies of Maharashtra in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, officials said.Voting started at 7 am in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in the west Vidarbha region and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in Marathwada, and will end at 6 pm, they said. As per the election office, till 1 pm, Parbhani recorded 33.88 per cent voting, Nanded 32.93, Wardha 32.32, Akola 32.25, Yavatmal-Washim 31.47, Amravati 31.40, Hingoli 30.46 and Buldhana 29.07. 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 the Nanded constituency. Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim and Hingoli are seeing a direct contest between the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT).

Chhattisgarh: At least 53.09 per cent of the electorate cast their votes till 1 pm in three constituencies, having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, an official said. "Amid tight security, polling began in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies at 7 am and was underway smoothly. Till 1 pm, 53.09 per cent polling has been registered," the official said. Among the prominent 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.

Karnataka: An estimated 38.23 per cent turnout was reported during the first half of the day in Karnataka, where the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in 14 of 28 constituencies is underway on Friday. According to election officials, 38.23 per cent of the electorate in Karnataka had cast their vote till 1 PM. Voting began at 7.00 am and will end by 6.00 pm. Cricketing legend Anil Kumble, Ayodhya Ram Mandir's Ram lalla sculptor Arun Yogiraj and former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde were among prominent persons who cast their votes during the day, along with IT industry veterans Kris Gopalakrishnan and Mohandas Pai.Biotechnology veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, after casting her vote, in a post on social media platform X said, "As a responsible citizen of our great country, I have cast my vote. Jai hind" Film stars Upendra, Shivarajkumar and Sudeep too exercised their franchise during the first half of the day.

Bihar: A voter turnout of 33.80 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar where polling was underway in the second phase on Friday, officials said. The polling started at 7 am in Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka constituencies, and would continue till 6 pm, they said. Speaking to reporters in Lakhisarai, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, "I urge people to exercise their franchise in large numbers. People must vote for the overall growth of the country as well as Bihar." Meanwhile, Congress's Kishanganj MP Mohd Javed, who is seeking re-election, filed a police complaint, alleging that his opponents issued a fake statement in his name asking voters to vote in favour of another candidate."It was an attempt by my opponents to mislead voters of Kishanganj. I filed a complaint against the suspects last night," he told reporters.

Rajasthan: Over 40 percent voting was recorded till 1 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan where elections are being held in the second phase on Friday. 40.39 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm across the 13 parliamentary constituencies. At the same time, 51.50 percent voting took place in Bagidora assembly constituency, according to official data. In the first two hours of the voting, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is contesting from Kota-Bundi, BJP state president CP Joshi, BJP candidate from Chittorgarh, Union minister and BJP candidate from Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat cast their votes. Assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani cast his vote in Ajmer while former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot exercised their franchise in Jhalawar and Jodhpur respectively.

Uttar Pradesh: 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. 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. BJP candidate Hema Malini, while talking to reporters, said she was hopeful that people would vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pressing the lotus button on the EVMs."I would not have been the MP from Mathura had opposition party candidates worked even a little for the constituency," Malini said while responding to a question. Claiming herself to be the 'gopi' (female devotee) of 'Kanha', she said, "The promises I have made would be fulfilled to receive the blessings of Kanha." RLD president Jayant Chaudhary along with his wife Charu Chaudhary turned up at a booth in Mathura to cast their votes. "People are impressed by the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the past ten years and that is why BJP is getting support from them in a big way," Jayant Chaudhary told reporters.

Madhya Pradesh: About 38.96 per cent of voters cast their ballots till 1 am in six Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said. 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.

A voter turnout ranging from 18.83 per cent to 36.42 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling on Friday in phase two of the Lok Sabha elections covering 88 constituencies in 13 states and union territories amid reports of EVM glitches in some booths in Kerala and West Bengal.

Polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

Tripura recorded the highest voting percentage of 36.42 till 11 am, while the lowest voter turnout was in Maharashtra with 18.83 per cent.

Kerala reported brisk polling with 25.61 per cent voters exercising their franchise.

However, electronic voting machine (EVM) breakdowns were reported in some booths of the state.

One elderly person also reportedly died in Ottapalam area of Palakkad district after casting his vote.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, BJP state president K Surendran, saffron party candidates Suresh Gopi and Anil Antony as well as Congress' K C Venugopal and Shafi Parambil were among the early voters.

In Karnataka, an estimated 22.34 per cent turnout was reported with long queues seen at polling booths.

IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, his wife and nominated member of Rajya Sabha Sudha Murty, cricketing legend Rahul Dravid, Union Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha member Nirmala Sitharaman, and Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena were among the early voters in Bengaluru city.

The erstwhile Mysuru royal family scion and BJP candidate from Mysore Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, along with wife Trishika Kumari Devi and "Rajmata" Pramoda Devi Wadiyar voted in Mysuru.

Madhya Pradesh saw about 28.15 per cent of voters casting their ballots in six Lok Sabha constituencies while voting for three Lok Sabha constituencies, having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh saw 35.47 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise.

The early voters in Madhya Pradesh include Union minister Prahlad Patel in Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019, and Union minister Virendra Kumar and his wife in Tikamgarh seat.

West Bengal recorded nearly 31.25 per cent voters exercising their vote in three Lok Sabha constituencies.

However, the Election Commission registered 290 complaints, mostly related to EVM malfunctioning, in the state.

In Manipur, a voter turnout of 33.22 per cent was recorded till 11 am while in Bihar, 21.68 per cent of over 93 lakh voters in five Lok Sabha constituencies exercised their franchise.

In the north, Uttar Pradesh recorded an average voter turnout of 24.31 per cent in eight parliamentary constituencies while Jammu saw more than 26.61 per cent of the over 17.8 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise.

Rajasthan recorded nearly 26.84 percent voter turnout across 13 Lok Sabha seats and one assembly constituency.

Assam saw 27.43 per cent voters turning out to exercise their franchise.

Prominent candidates who exercised their franchise are Assam Minister for Excise, Transport and Fisheries Parimal Suklabaidya and his Congress rival Surya Kanta Sarkar in Silchar (SC), Congress candidate Joyram Engleng in Diphu (ST) and sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi in Nagaon.

Several senior BJP and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, and Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Choudhary and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, are in the fray in the 88 seats where polling is underway.

In 2019, the BJP had won 52 and its existing allies 12 of these seats, including seven of eight in Uttar Pradesh, all 13, eight and seven in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively, and four of the five seats each in Assam and Bihar.

The constituents of the now INDIA bloc had won 23 seats in the last general election.

Polling was held in 102 seats in the the first phase polls on April 19.

The turnout in the first phase was recorded at 62.37 per cent which may still be revised upwards as votes are tallied. The voting percentage in the first phase in 2019 was 69.43 per cent when 91 seats went to the polls.