Polling preparations are underway at various places in the country as over 15.88 crore voters will be determining the fate of 1202 candidates today in the second phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.
Mock polling was conducted at Vattiyoorkavu polling station in Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the second phase of polling today.
Preparations are also underway at polling booth number 23/99 (Patlaybash Community Hall) in Darjeeling, West Bengal ahead of the second phase of polling today.
Mock polls are also underway at a polling booth in Chattisgarh’s Kanker as voting will be held in three parliamentary constituencies in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections today.
People queued outside a polling station in West Bengal’s Balurghat, to vote in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls which begins at 7 am.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has said that adequate arrangements have been made for smooth polling in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls and urged voters to participate in the festival of democracy in maximum numbers.
In an interview with ANI, Kumar said various amenities have been provided to voters in polling booths and adequate security measures have been taken.
“We have made complete preparations for today’s elections. Polling booths have been decorated. There is no possibility of any kind of violence at any booth nor has any such report been received,” he said.
“We have been preparing for the last 2 years. The arrangements are in place at all the booths. All arrangements have been made for the voters including drinking water, and fans. The voters need to come out and vote. Security has been kept in mind. There is absolutely no information on violence from anywhere. Still, forces will be present on all booths,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also urged voters to vote first on April 26 for a ‘safe and developed India’.
“In the second phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections-2024 today, an appeal is made to the respected voters to vote for a ‘safe and developed India’. Your every vote is decisive in creating a golden future for the country. First vote, then refreshment!” posted CM Yogi on X.
Meanwhile, the NDA candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary seat, Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Vettukad Church in the constituency as Kerala will vote on all 20 seats in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls today.
Talking to ANI, the BJP leader said, “Since the last 15-20 years, there has been very little progress in Thiruvananthapuram and in the lives of many people who are suffering from many problems that have not been solved. I request all of you to come out and vote today. ”
“This is an important day, not just for democracy, but for the future of Thiruvananthapuram and the future of your own families and children. It is something that we all must take seriously. Voting is a fundamental duty of every citizen and I hope everybody comes out and votes for change,” he added.
The second phase of polling will be held in 88 constituencies across 13 States/Union Territory. With weather conditions predicted to be within normal ranges, voters can cast their votes comfortably. For convenience for voters, meticulous arrangements have been made at all polling stations including facilities, to deal with hot weather conditions, according to the Election Commission.
The second phase of polling was to be held on 89 seats but it has been deferred to May 7 in Betul in Madhya Pradesh due to the death of the BSP candidate.
According to the ECI, over 15.88 crore voters will be voting in the second phase which includes 8.08 crore male electors, 7.8 crore female electors and 5929 third-gender electors.
A total of 4553 flying squads, 5731 static surveillance teams, 1462 video surveillance teams and 844 video viewing teams are keeping surveillance round the clock to strictly and swiftly deal with any form of inducement of voters across the 1.67 lakh polling stations, as per the ECI press note.
The ECI further said that webcasting will be done in more than 50 per cent of the polling stations along with the deployment of micro-observers in all polling stations.
Key issues ranging from unemployment, violence against women, economic development, long-pending grievances of farmers, crisis funds and inflation were among the most highlighted across the country.
While, topics that led the debates in the country included Ram Temple, Sanatan Dharma, GST, Caste Census, OBCs and reservation, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Five seats, namely Karimganj, Silchar, Mangaldoi, Nawgong and Kaliabor, out of the total 14 will go to polls in Assam today.
In Bihar, too five seats will be polling today out of the total 40, which are Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka.
Three seats namely Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund and Kanker out of the total 11 will be voting tomorrow in Chhattisgarh.
The polling is held in a single seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir in the second phase.
Ahead of the polling, a Mega Voter Awareness Program under SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) was organized at Tulip Garden in Srinagar on Wednesday. The awareness program aimed to educate citizens about the importance of voting, voter registration processes, and electoral participation.
On arrangements for Lok Sabha elections, Kengoo Zuringla, Ukhrul District Collector in Manipur said, “We are getting all the polling personnel ready and we are distributing their EVMs. We are distributing their polling materials. We already have the security arrangements for them.”
“We are very happy that our Ukhrul district can conduct such an exercise to ensure that every person, every citizen of our country has the right to express, to be able to choose a leader which is of their own desire. So, this time, we have four candidates from the outer Manipur parliamentary constituency. A total of 145 polling stations are there in the Ukhrul district,” she said.
Out of the total 28 seats, 14 seats will go to the polls in Karnataka on Friday namely Udupi Chikamagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikballapur and Kolar.
All 20 seats will vote in the second phase in Kerala. These include Kasaragod, Kannur, Vatakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alathur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal and Thiruvananthapuram.
In Madhya Pradesh, out of the 29 seats, six will be voting in the second phase namely, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa and Hoshangabad.
Out of the 48 seats, voting will be held in eight seats in Maharashtra in the second phase. Buldhana, Akola, Amravati (SC), Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani will go to the polls today.
13 seats namely Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran out of the total 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight out of the total 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, namely Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura and Bulandshahr will go to the polls today.
Voting will be held in three seats namely Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat in West Bengal. There are a total of 42 seats in the state.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 61 of the 88 seats that will go to polls in the second phase.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won 24 seats and other parties namely, BSP , CPM and NPF won 3 seats.
Voting will begin at 7 am today and will conclude at 6 pm. The Lok Sabha election is being held in seven phases till June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4. (ANI)
