Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Tripura records highest turnout, Maharashtra lowest, at 11 am

Voting for 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories in the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election began at 7.00 a.m. today, 26 April. As per ECI data received until 11.00 am, the single constituency in Tripura recorded the highest turnout with over 36 per cent, while eight seats in Maharashtra recorded the lowest turnout at 18.83 per cent.

A third of the total 543 Lok Sabha constituencies are voting today, including all constituencies in Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura, as well as 14 of 28 constituencies in Karnataka and Outer Manipur.

Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have eight seats each, Madhya Pradesh seven, Assam and Bihar five each, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh three, and Jammu and Kashmir a single seat.

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP and candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, which goes to polls today, said the 2024 Lok Sabha election held a far greater significance than just his own political future.

‘’...This election is about (something) far greater than my own future. It is about India’s future. It is about changing the government in Delhi. We are here to restore democracy, restore faith in diversity and restore India’s pluralism... The Left also claim they are critical of the BJP, but they’ve never said a word against BJP.’’

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the breakdown of voter turnouts is as below:: 

• Tripura - 36.42 per cent

• Chhattisgarh - 35.47 per cent

• Manipur - 33.22 per cent

• West Bengal - 31.25 per cent

• Madhya Pradesh - 28.15 per cent

• Assam - 27.43 per cent

• Rajasthan - 26.84 per cent

• J&K - 26.61 per cent

• Kerala - 25.61 per cent

• Uttar Pradesh - 24.31 per cent

• Karnataka - 22.34 per cent

• Bihar - 21.68 per cent

• Maharashtra - 18.83 per cent

Kerala registered a voter turnout of 19.06 per cent by 10.20 am. Polling, held amidst tight security, was primarily incident-free except for electronic voting machine (EVM) breakdowns reported in some booths of the state.

The EVM breakdowns resulted in delays in those booths, reportedly prompting several voters to go home, according to Congress leader Anto Antony, who is contesting from Pathanamthitta LS seat, and his party colleague Chandy Oommen.

Both of them said they have asked officials to extend the voting time in the affected booths. Voter turnout was 12.26 per cent at 9.20 am and rose to 16 per cent and then 19.06 per cent at 10 am and 10.20 am, respectively.

The Supreme Court of India has rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT).

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts in the matter. Pronouncing the judgement, justice Khanna said the court has rejected all the petitions, including those seeking resorting back to ballot papers in elections.

Read more here

Amidst polling for the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to come out and vote to protect democracy from the clutches of dictatorship, saying "this is not an ordinary election and they should not be swayed by any diversionary tactics".

He said the Constitution should reverberate in their hearts before they press the voting button. Kharge also appealed to first-time voters to come out in large numbers and vote as they are the real changemakers in this movement for democracy.

"'We, the people of India' - this soul of the Constitution of India, should reverberate in your hearts and minds, before you push the voting button. Do not forget that this is not an ordinary election. It is an election to protect Democracy from the clutches of dictatorship," he said in his message on X. "To all my dear citizens, from 89 Constituencies in 13 States and UTs, do not get swayed by any diversionary tactics and lies.

"Always make your vote count. For it may change the lives of 140 crore Indians by bringing the paradigm of Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay," Kharge wrote.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed Kerala would give the BJP double-digit seats in the Lok Sabha election, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor quipped, “Yes, the double digits would be two zeros.”

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, spearheading the LDF campaign in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats, responded that the BJP would not even come second in any of the 20 seats.

Read more in our special report on Kerala

The Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency recorded a voter turnout of 16.97 per cent as of 9.00 am on Friday, an official said, while nearly 12 per cent turnout was recorded in the first two hours of polling across 13 Lok Sabha seats and one Assembly segment in Rajasthan.

In Chhattisgarh, the three Lok Sabha constituencies, notable for their Naxalite presence, recorded a turnout of 15.42 per cent in the first two hours. Altogether 41 candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former state home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, are in the fray in a direct fight between the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress.

Karnataka and Assam both recorded a turnout of a little over 9 per cent in the first two hours, while nearly 15.7 per cent of 51.17 lakh voters in three Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal had cast their votes until 9.00 am.

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the breakdown of voter turnouts is as below:

• Karnataka - 9.21 per cent

• West Bengal - 15.68 per cent

• Assam - 9.71 per cent

• Manipur - 15.49 per cent

• Uttar Pradesh - 11.67 per cent

• Chhattisgarh - 15.42 per cent

• Madhya Pradesh - 13.82 per cent

• Rajasthan - 11.77 per cent

• Kerala - 11.98 per cent

• Tripura - 16.97 per cent

• Jammu & Kashmir - 10.39 per cent

• Bihar - 9.84 per cent

• Maharashtra - 7.45 per cent

Voters queued up in large numbers outside booths across all five parliamentary constituencies in Assam. Polling began at 7.00 am in Karimganj, Silchar, Diphu, Nagaon and Darrang-Udalguri constituencies to decide the fate of 61 candidates.

Appealing to voters to exercise their franchise, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a post on X said: "As Assam goes to polls on Phase II of the #LokSabhaElections2024, I urge every citizen to vote in large numbers. Your vote is precious and will shape the direction of Bharat in the years to come."

A total of 77,26,668 voters , including 38,61,559 women and 179 third gender, are eligible to vote in 9,133 polling stations in this phase.

The BJP's Balurghat candidate Sukanta Majumdar claimed his name wasn’t on the voters' list when he turned up to cast his vote with his wife. As he began agitating at the polling booth, his name was found on the list, reportedly at the last number.

As per media reports, voters present at the spot began shouting and protesting against Majumdar, who was accompanied by Central forces, and he was seen entering into verbal altercations with a few voters. Majumdar claimed one of his party workers was beaten up outside the booth, and there were TMC workers within 100 metres of the booth, which is against regulations.

He also accused the TMS of hooliganism, and claimed that TMC workers shouted slogans at him, and that the police "is doing nothing". He said a complaint has been lodged with the Election Commission against the TMC.

Kannada actor Prakash Raj, who has long been vocal against the current regime at the Centre, has exhorted his followers to vote 'against hate' in a short video clip.

Polling for three constituencies in northern Bengal is on in Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj, to continue until 6.00 pm. A total of 47 candidates, including state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, are in the fray for the three seats, with 51.17 lakh eligible voters.

Over 5,200 polling stations have been set up across the three constituencies, and a total of 27,200 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel and 12,983 state police personnel have been deployed, officials said.

The BJP won all three North Bengal seats in 2019. While Majumdar won from Balurghat, Raju Bista secured Darjeeling. Both are seeking re-election for a second term. Debasree Chaudhuri won Raiganj in 2019, but the BJP has sent her to Kolkata Dakshin this time. In Raiganj, the party has fielded Kartick Paul, who is taking on the Congress' Ali Imran Ramz and the TMC's Krishna Kalyani.

Majumdar is fighting TMC's Biplab Mitra in Balurghat, while Bista is up against TMC's Gopal Lama and Congress's Munish Tamang in a prestige battle for Darjeeling.

West Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats will be voting in all seven phases of the ongoing election.

The Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka are not a battle between the Congress and the BJP this time, or even between the Congress and Modi, says veteran political journalist D. Umapathy. In 2024, it is actually Karnataka vs Modi, he feels. The sentiment, amplified in the Congress campaign too, is shared by many, with good reason.

Charges of deliberately neglecting Karnataka have been made against New Delhi ever since the Congress formed the state government in 2023. The chief minister and the deputy chief minister led an unprecedented dharna in New Delhi on 7 February, alleging discrimination in tax devolution had resulted in a revenue loss of over Rs 45,000 crore in the last four years.

Read more here

Amid tight security arrangements, voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir's Jammu constituency began at 7.00 am, with more than 17.81 lakh voters eligible to vote to decide the fate of 22 candidates.

Polling at all 2,416 polling stations across the constituency is going on smoothly, officials said. Incumbent MP Jugal Kishore Sharma of the BJ) is eyeing a third straight term after the 2014 and 2019 elections.

A direct contest is on the cards between Sharma and INDIA bloc candidate Raman Bhalla, working president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress. Jagdish Raj of the BSP and advocate Ankur Sharma of the Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal are two other prominent faces contesting the seat.

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The Bahujan Samaj Party has the highest number of candidates in the second phase with 74, followed by the BJP with 69 and the Congress with 68. Karnataka, with 14 seats going to the polls, has the most candidates overall at 247, followed by Maharashtra (eight seats) at 204 and Kerala (all 20 seats) at 189.

With inputs from PTI