April 26th 2024.
The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections has been underway today, with over 60% of the registered voters having cast their ballots by 5 pm. The voting has been taking place in 13 states, covering a total of 88 seats. However, there have been some reports of EVM glitches and fraudulent voting in certain areas of Kerala and West Bengal.
In some villages of Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara, and Maharashtra's Parbhani, there were initial boycotts of the elections due to various issues. However, the voters were eventually convinced by the authorities to exercise their right to vote. The polling started at 7 am and was supposed to continue until 6 pm. With the intense heat conditions being experienced in several states, the election officials have been taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the voters.
The highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura, with a turnout of 77.53% by 5 pm. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh had the lowest turnout of 52.74%. The voting is taking place in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Some of the prominent candidates in this phase include Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil. In Karnataka, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy are among the key candidates. On the other hand, BJP's Hema Malini, Om Birla, and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.
Both the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi have emphasized the importance of each vote and have urged people to come out and vote in this phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In Kerala, the turnout was 63.97%, and the election process was mostly incident-free, except for a few instances of fraudulent voting and technical glitches in some booths, causing delays in the voting process.
Unfortunately, there have been some casualties reported during the voting. One person each reportedly died in Palakkad, Alappuzha, and Malappuram after casting their vote, and a polling agent collapsed at a booth in Kozhikode. In Tripura, the turnout was 77.53%, and there were some complaints from a few booths, but the election officials have promptly addressed them.
In a tragic incident, 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 in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat in Chhattisgarh. The voter turnout in Chhattisgarh was 72.13% by 5 pm. It has been reported that a polling booth in Sivni village in Balod district was decorated like a wedding mandap, and several brides and grooms cast their votes while dressed in their wedding attire.
In neighboring Madhya Pradesh, the turnout was 54.83% by 5 pm. In Assam, an estimated 70.66% of the 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise by 3 pm. In Manipur, where the voting is taking place under high security measures, the turnout was 76.06%. In Karnataka, the overall voting percentage was 63.90% by 5 pm.
A case has been filed against BJP MP and Bangalore South candidate Tejasvi Surya for allegedly posting a video on social media platform and soliciting votes on the basis of religion, according to the Election Commission. In Bangalore, various restaurants were offering free dosas, laddu, coffee, and other food items at discounted rates to customers who cast their vote. Additionally, a private hospital assisted 41 inpatients to cast their vote with the help of the city civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Green corridors were also created across constituencies for ambulances to ensure easy and hassle-free voting.
Unfortunately, there have been some instances of violence reported during the voting. In one incident, some EVMs were destroyed at a polling station in Indiganatha village in Chamarajanagara district of Karnataka during a clash between two groups over whether to vote or not. The officials have filed an FIR, and the Election Commission will take further action after receiving a detailed report.
The voter turnout in Maharashtra was 53.51% by 3 pm, while in Rajasthan, it was 59.19%. There were also some reports of confrontations between the supporters of the Congress candidate and an independent candidate in the Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan. The police are currently investigating these complaints, along with reports of fake voting in some places.
In Uttar Pradesh, the turnout was 52.74% by 3 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies. In Noida, senior citizens were seen dominating the early hours of voting in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency. Some resident welfare associations had also arranged for electric vehicles to transport voters to and from the polling booths. In Bihar, the turnout was 53.03%, 71.84% in West Bengal, and 67.90% in Jammu and Kashmir.
These elections are significant as they are the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - on August 5, 2019. The Election Commission also received nearly 300 complaints in West Bengal, most of which were related to EVM malfunctions.
After today's phase, the polling will be completed in Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tripura. In the first phase on April 19, the voting was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, and Lakshadweep. The third phase of elections for 94 seats across 12 states and Union territories will take place on May 7, and the counting will be done on June 4.
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