Lok Sabha elections: Second phase of polling begins in 88 constituencies

The second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election began on Friday, with 88 constituencies across 12 states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir going to the polls.

Voting is underway in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and one each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.

The approximate voter turnout till 9am in Assam was 9.71%, while it was 9.65% in Bihar and 15.42% in Chhattisgarh. Jammu and Kashmir recorded a voter turnout of 10.39% till 9am according to data released by the Election Commission.

Voter turnout till 9 am in the rest of the states is: Karnataka 9.21%, Kerala 11.90%, Madhya Pradesh 13.82%, Maharashtra 7.45%, Manipur 15.49%, Rajasthan 11.77%, Tripura 16.55%,Uttar Pradesh 11.67% and West Bengal 15.68%.

Madhya Pradesh’s Betul constituency was also supposed to go to polls in the second phase, but the voting was postponed to May 7 after the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate on April 9, according to PTI.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray during the second phase are the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and Bhupesh Baghel, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Om Birla and Tejasvi Surya, the Janata Dal (Secular)’s HD Kumaraswamy and the Communist Party of India’s Annie Raja.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cast her vote in Bengaluru on Friday. “This election is definitely on the grounds that people want stable, good leadership to take over,” she told reporters, PTI reported. “It can’t be on the grounds that I don’t like somebody so I don’t want that somebody. Political parties will have to give good proposals.”

Congress leader KC Venugopal urged voters to come out and cast their vote, reported PTI.

“Voters have to come out and vote, this should be first and foremost priority,” he said. “This country now needs a change, they have to come out and vote for a change. I am very confident, I believe in people of Alleppey [in Kerala’s Alappuzha], they [voters] will give maximum majority [to Congress].”

The Opposition leader said that he is confident that the state-level Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala will win 20 out of 20 seats.

The first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election on April 19 saw voting on 102 parliamentary constituencies across 17 states and four Union Territories. The Election Commission said that an estimated 62.34% of the electorate turned up to vote on that day. The final figures have not been released yet.