With the conclusion of phase-2 Lok Sabha Election yesterday, voting has been completed in 14 States/UTs for General Elections 2024. A voter turnout of 60.96 per cent was recorded in the second phase polling. In this phase, 88 Lok Sabha seats went to polls. Polling remained largely peaceful with voters from various walks of life participating enthusiastically despite the heat wave in a dazzling display of civic responsibility and pride. The voters from across 13 States and Union Territories participated enthusiastically to cast their votes at their polling stations. The voting took place on twenty seats of Kerala, 14 seats of Karnataka, 13 seats of Rajasthan, eight seats each of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, six seats of Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. The polling for the Betul Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh, which was scheduled in the second phase will now be held in the third phase due to the demise of the BSP candidate.
The Election Commission said that stringent security measures were implemented to maintain law and order, creating a conducive environment for voters to cast their vote without fear or intimidation. The webcasting was done in over one lakh Polling Stations. The Commission said that in the second phase, voters from 46 villages in Bastar and Kanker Parliamentary Constituencies in Chhattisgarh cast their vote in a polling booth set up in their own villages for the first time in a Lok Sabha Election. It said, including phase one, overall 102 new polling stations were set up for the first time in these Parliamentary Constituencies for the convenience of villagers. The Commission made special efforts to facilitate voting amongst the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, elderly, young and first-time voters, women, and transgenders.
Our correspondent reports that some of the prominent candidates whose political fate was sealed in the EVMs today are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala, CPl’s Annie Raja, who also contested from Wayanad, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram, Tejasvi Surya of BJP from Bengaluru South, Hema Malini of BJP from Mathura. Other key candidates included BJP’s Arun Govil from Meerut, ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya and Pappu Yadav from Purnea.
