Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to young and women voters to turn out in great numbers and Opposition leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi’s message for voters to vote and ‘save the Constitution,’ notwithstanding, saw nearly 61 per cent voting till 7 pm on Friday in the second phase of the Lok Sabha.

The 2019 polls of the second phase recorded 66 per cent voting.

At 7 pm, 61 per cent voter turnout was recorded across 13 States and Union Territories. Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Assam and Tripura recorded over 70 per cent voter turnout while Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra recorded the lowest turnout at 52.6 per cent, 53 per cent and 53.5 per cent respectively.  In 2019, NDA secured victory in 56 seats of the 89 seats while the UPA won 24 seats.

In the ongoing second phase of Lok Sabha elections, Assam saw voting percentage of 70.97 per cent, Bihar 54.91 per cent, Chhattisgarh 73.19 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir 71.92 per cent, Karnataka 67.77 per cent, Kerala 65.45 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 57.55 per cent, Maharashtra 54.58 per cent, Manipur 77.18 per cent, Rajasthan 64.01 per cent, Tripura 78.82 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 54.83 per cent and West Bengal 71.84 per cent.

After Friday’s phase, polling will be over in the States of Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura. Barring a few confrontations and complaints of fake voting in Barmer-Jaisalmer, polling was peaceful in the second phase. The third phase of elections for 94 seats across 12 States and Union Territories will be held on May 7.

Modi expressed his delight saying the phase two of the Lok Sabha polls has been “too good” for the BJP-led NDA, describing the support to the ruling alliance as unparalleled.

“Phase Two has been too good! Gratitude to the people across India who have voted today. The unparalleled support for NDA is going to disappoint the Opposition even more. Voters want NDA’s good governance. Youth and women voters are powering the strong NDA support,” Modi said on social media.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took potshots at the PM over his attack on the grand old party, saying he is scared and may even shed tears on the stage.

Interestingly, Modi and Opposition leaders, including Rahul raised the pitch of the campaign by focusing on hot-button issues such as religious discrimination, inheritance taxes and affirmative action’s during the second phase to polarize their vote bank.

Notably, Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh having naxalite presence, recorded voter turnout of 63.92 per cent. Similarly, the newly settled Bru voters of Tripura exercised their franchise for the 2024 general elections to the Lok Sabha. Voters in some villages of Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, Rajasthan’s Banswara and Maharashtra’s Parbhani boycotted polls over various issues but were persuaded by authorities to cast their franchise. Voters in some villages of Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, Rajasthan’s Banswara and Maharashtra’s Parbhani were boycotting the polls over various issues but were later persuaded by authorities to cast their franchise.

The Election Commission (EC) said polling remained largely peaceful. The tentative figure at 7 pm of voter turnout of 60.96 per cent is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained, the EC said, adding voters reaching polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote.

According to EC, voters from 46 villages in Bastar and Kanker PCs in Chhattisgarh cast their vote in a polling booth set up in their own village for the first time in a Lok Sabha Election.

The Lok Sabha polls are the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019. The Election Commission registered nearly 300 complaints in West Bengal, mostly related to EVM malfunctioning.

Rahul, Shashi Tharoor, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, actress Hema Malini, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s brother DK Suresh (Cong), and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) are among the key candidates.

In restive Manipur, where polling is being held under high presence of security personnel, the turnout was a high 77.18 per cent.

In Kerala, the turnout was 63.97 per cent. One person each reportedly died at Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram after casting their vote and a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kozhikode.

While Karnataka recorded 63.90 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm, Rajasthan recorded  60.61 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the 13 constituencies. Six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 58.35 per cent in the second phase.

West Bengal recorded voter turnout of 72 per cent till 5 pm which included Balurghat recorded the highest polling percentage at 72.30, followed by Raiganj at 71.87 and Darjeeling at 71.41.

Bihar recorded voter turnout of 58.58 per cent, almost 4.34 per cent lower than that of the 2019 general elections.