There were reports of technical glitches in a number of booths in Tamil Nadu and Bihar. (Express photo: Amit Mehra)Lok Sabha Election 2019 Phase 2 Voting LIVE Updates: The second phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 ended on Thursday, with over 66 per cent voters exercising their franchise. While West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout with 75.27 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir recorded the lowest with 43.37 per cent. Read more
The voting took place in 95 constituencies across 11 states and one union territory. Polling is being held in 38 seats in Tamil Nadu, 14 seats in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, eight in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one seat each in Manipur and Puducherry.
Follow LIVE updates | Karnataka Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Voting
There were reports of violence in north Bengal’s Islampur in which CPM candidate Md Salim’s vehicle was attacked allegedly by miscreants. Polling in Vellore, which was slated for today, stands cancelled owing to the abuse of money power. Four booths in Odisha will undergo re-polling in Daspalla assembly constituency due to technical problems in EVM machines and VVPATs, ANI reported.
Union ministers Jitendra Singh, Jual Oram, Sadananda Gowda and Pon Radhakrishnan, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja and Kanimozhi are among the 1,600-odd contestants in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls. Click here for more election news
Here is a quick guide on how to vote without voter ID card, how to locate polling booth.
Lok Sabha elections 2019: 66 per cent voter turnout in second phase
Sixty-six per cent turnout recorded in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls, says Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha. (PTI)
Total voter turn out in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections
Assam- 73.32%
Bihar- 58.14%
Chhattisgarh- 68.70%
Jammu and Kashmir- 43.37%
Karnataka- 61.80%
Maharashtra - 55.37%
Manipur- 74.69%
Odisha- 57.41%
Puducherry- 72.40%
Tamil Nadu- 61.52%
Uttar Pradesh- 58.12%
West Bengal- 75.27%
Total voter turnout: 61.12%
Maharashtra: Two villages in Osmanabad district boycott voting
Two villages in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra Thursday boycotted voting for the Lok Sabha election, as the villagers felt that the government has not paid heed to their demands and the issues have remained unresolved so far.
Residents of Jejala village in Bhum tehsil and Dhanegaon village in Tuljapur boycotted voting.
Jejala has around 1,000 voters, but till 1 pm not a single person came to the polling booth.
"We have been demanding better roads, but no government official and politician addressed our demand," said Sagar Bhosale, a local youth, who is leading the protest.
Rs 11 lakh cash seized in Mumbai
Election Commission flying squad seized Rs 11.85 lakh unaccounted cash in Sion area of Mumbai last night, ANI reported.
Repolling at 4 booths in Odisha due to EVM malfunction
Chief Electoral Officer Odisha Thursday recommended re-polling in booth 213 in Sundergarh, booth 129 in Bonai, and booths 210 and 222 in Daspalla assembly constituency due to technical problems in EVM machines and VVPATs, ANI reported.
Voter turnout in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and other states till 3pm
Voting turnout till 3pm
Maharashtra - 46.63%
Tamil Nadu - 52.02%
Odisha - 53%
Manipur - 67.5%
Uttar Pradesh - 50.39%
Chhattisgarh - 59.72%
Karnataka - 49.26%
(ANI)
107-year-old casts vote in Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat
A 107-year-old woman named Saalumarada Thimmakka exercised her franchise at the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency Thursday. She is also a Padma awardee, ANI said.
Polling percentage in Assam till 3pm
Karimganj- 63.66%
Mangaldoi- 62.7%
Autonomous- 62.7%
Silchar- 57.06%
Nowgong- 56.78%
State total: 60.38%
(PTI)
West Bengal poll percentage till 3.00 pm
Jalpaiguri (SC) - 71.32%,
Darjeeling - 63.14%,
Raiganj - 61.84%
State total - 65.43%.
(ANI)
Polling percentage in Jammu and Kashmir till 3pm
Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency
Reasi 62.7%
Kathua 64.6%
Udhampur 63.1%
Ramban 50.8%
Doda 57.2%
Kishtwar 50.4%
Average polling till 3pm: 59.1%
Srinagar Lok Sabha Constituency
Budgam 17.1%
Ganderbal 14.4%
Srinagar 5.7%
Average polling till 3pm: 12.4%
Poonam Sinha files nomination from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat
Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency Poonam Sinha filed her nomination Thursday. Her husband and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha and SP's Dimple Yadav were also present. Poonam Sinha will take on Union minister and BJP candidate from Lucknow Rajnath Singh.
Another Bangladeshi actor asked to leave India for participating in poll rally
Ghazi Abdul Noor, another Bangladeshi actor, who attended a political rally in Dumdum in West Bengal, has been asked by the Home Ministry to leave India. His visa has already expired. The ministry has said that appropriate action will be taken regarding his stay.
BJP MLA alleges Burqa clad-women indulging in fake voting
Mahendra Singh Khargvanshi, BJP's MLA from Hasanpur in Amroha, Thursday alleged that "Burqa-clad women" are indulging in fake voting in his constituency. The MLA said he had reports of such bogus voting from at least three polling booths in his constituency.
"In Hasanpur, on three polling booths (85, 86 and 87) our booth-level party workers have informed me that Burqa-clad women are indulging in fake voting," he told PTI.
He said he has informed the district magistrate and the superintendent of police about this. "And, I have been told that they are looking into this."
Amroha District Magistrate Umesh Mishra denied any "fake voting" was taking place. "There is no fake voting. Only genuine voters are allowed to cast their votes, after their identity is thoroughly checked. We are continuously on the move, and there are no such complaints," he said.
BJP candidate from Amroha Kanwar Singh Tanwar too had claimed the same charges earlier in the day.
Raman Singh casts his vote in Rajnandgaon
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and his family cast their vote for the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday.
Akhilesh Yadav filed nomination from Azamgarh
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Thursday filed his nomination papers from Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Voter turnout in Maharashtra till 1 pm
Buldhana - 34.43%
Akola - 34.46%
Amravati - 33.68%
Hingoli - 37.44%
Nanded - 38.19%
Parbhani - 37.95%
Beed - 34.65%
Osmanabad - 34.94%
Latur - 36.82%
Solapur - 31.56%
Average voting - 35.40%
Over 46% polling recorded in Assam till 1 pm
An estimated 46.42 per cent of over 69 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 1 pm Thursday in five parliamentary constituencies of Assam, an election official told PTI.
Mangoli Kala village of Fatehour Sikri boycott elections, says polling official
Violence mars polling in Bengal: Clashes on NH31; CPM candidate vehicle attacked
Clashes erupted in Chopra Assembly segment when police used force to disperse a group of people who blocked the National Highway 31, claiming they were not allowed to vote. Crude bombs were reportedly lobbed at the police contingent after they had deployed tear gas. Read more here.
Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar casts his vote
Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, son Yathindra cast their vote
One of the three polling stations in Aligarh Muslim University
Maharashtra: Voting percentage till 11 am
Buldhana - 20.49%
Akola - 21.03%
Amravati - 20.06%
Hingoli - 24.08%
Nanded - 24.40%
Parbhani - 26.17%
Beed - 18.94%
Osmanabad - 20.09%
Latur - 23.14%
Solapur - 16.50%
Average voting - 21.47 %
Bulandshahr DM issues notice to BJP MP Bhola Singh
Anuj Kumar Jha, DM (Bulandshahr) has issued a notice to MP Bhola Singh, who entered a polling booth and spoke to voters earlier today. “Apart from issuing a notice, we are restricting his movement in Bulandshahar today,” said Jha. After Singh’s video from the polling booth surfaced, the EC asked for a report from the DM.
Maharashtra: Buldhana polling booth is being managed by specially-abled staff
Amroha BJP candidate Kanwar Singh Tanwar: Women in burkhas not being checked for their identity
BJP's youngest candidate Tejasvi Surya votes from Bangalore South
Initiating the #VoteMaadi challenge, the 28-year-old nominated three others, encouraging citizens to vote in high numbers.
Voter turnout in Karnataka at 19.58% till 11 am
According to the Karnataka CEO website, 19.58% is the voter turnout recorded across the state, as of 11 am. The same in key constituencies of Bangalore are as follows:
Bangalore South-19.69%
Banglore Central-15.27%
Bangalore North-15.85%
Here are the top 10 points that you need to know about phase 2
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged the country’s youth to cast their vote in the ongoing second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress president asked the people to vote for Nyay. Read 10 points here
Omar Abdullah: Sadhvi Pragya's health doesn't permit her to be in jail, but can contest polls?
Omar Abdullah after casting his vote at a polling station in Munshi Bagh Area in Srinagar constituency talked about Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. "BJP have given ticket (from Bhopal) to a candidate who is not only an accused in a terror case but is also out on bail on health grounds. If her health condition doesn't permit her to be in jail, how does it permit her to contest polls?" he asked.
Maharashtra Congress files 33 complaints with EC
Maharashtra Congress has filed 33 complaints with the Election Commission (EC) through e-mail about the EVM malfunctioning and other issues. "Most of these complaints are from Solapur, Nanded and Hingoli Lok Sabha constituencies. It has impacted the voting and there are big queues of people at the polling centres. Besides, EC, we have also raised these issues with returning officers," said advocate Vinay Pande of the Congress's legal cell.
Maharashtra: Voting halts in Solapur's Shastri Nagar
Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan casts his vote in Nanded
Voter turnout in Assam till 11 am
1-Karimganj – 28.30%
2-Silchar – 27.05 %
3-Autonomous Districts- 28.90%
8-Mangaldoi – 31.26%
10-Nowgong – 18.51%
Average – 26.39%
West Bengal: CPM candidate Md Salim's vehicle attacked in Islampur
There are reports of violence in north Bengal. CPM candidate Md Salim’s vehicle was attacked allegedly by miscreants in Islampur under Raigunj seat.
Development in Mathura is all due to my efforts, says Hema Malini
Voting visuals from Aligarh
We are not bothered about criticism from BJP, says Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy after casting his vote in Ramanagara said, "Dynasty politics isn't an important issue now, country's problems are the main issue. Only because of dynasty politics and regional politics, this country developed in several states. We are not bothered about criticism from BJP."
Voting percentage in Maharashtra till 9 am
Buldhana - 7.70%
Akola - 7.60%
Amravati - 6.40%
Hingoli - 7.94%
Nanded - 8.88%
Parbhani - 9.30%
Beed - 7.55%
Osmanabad - 7.90%
Latur - 8.41%
Solapur - 6.87%
Tamil Nadu elections: CM Palaniswami, actor Rajinikanth cast votes; technical glitches cause delay in a few areas
Besides the Chief Minister, BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit chief Tamilisai Soundararjan and actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan also cast their votes today morning. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, top actor Rajinikanth voted at Sivaganga district’s Kandanur and Chennai respectively. Read more here