• Tripura: The Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency recorded a voter turnout of 79.50 per cent till 5 pm on Friday, as polling remained peaceful so far, an official said.The voter turnout may cross 80 per cent as many voters were seen standing in queues at polling stations even after 5 pm, said Returning Officer (RO), Saju Vaheed.Voters came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise since morning, he said."Queues were seen in almost all the booths till the last reports came in. Tribals, too, took part in voting in the interior areas amid tight security... The polling remained largely free, fair and peaceful," the official said.Security has been beefed up in the areas where polling went on beyond 5 pm due to various reasons, he said.The Returning officer said the Election Commission received some complaints from a few booths, but those were "promptly addressed".Nearly 14 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of nine candidates including that of BJP nominee Kriti Devi Debbarman and CPI(M) leader and INDIA Bloc candidate Rajendra Reang.
• Uttar Pradesh: A voter turnout of 52.74 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh where voting was held in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said here.According to the Election Commission (EC), 61.89 per cent polling was recorded in Amroha till 5 pm, followed by 55.49 per cent in Meerut, 52.74 per cent in Baghpat, 48.21 per cent in Ghaziabad, 51.66 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 54.34 in Bulandshahr, 54.36 per cent in Aligarh and 46.96 in Mathura.BJP candidate Hema Malini told reporters that she was hopeful of people voting in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."I would not have been the MP from Mathura had opposition party candidates worked even a little for the constituency," Malini said while responding to a question.Claiming herself to be the 'gopi' (female devotee) of 'Kanha', she said, "The promises I have made would be fulfilled to receive the blessings of Kanha." RLD president Jayant Chaudhary, along with his wife Charu Chaudhary, turned up at a booth in Mathura to cast their votes.
• Maharashtra: A voter turnout of 53.51 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in eight constituencies of Maharashtra in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.Till 5 pm, Wardha recorded 56.66 per cent turnout, Amravati 54.50, Yavatmal-Washim 54.04, Parbhani 53.79, Akola 52.49, Nanded 52.47, Buldhana 52.24 and Hingoli 52.03, election officials said.Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who recently switched over from the Congress to the BJP, voted along with his family members in the initial hours in Nanded.On April 19, five seats in eastern Vidarbha – Nagpur, Ramtek, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia and Gadchiroli-Chimur – went to polls, registering a voter turnout of 63.70 per cent.Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim and Hingoli are seeing a direct contest between the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT).The undivided Shiv Sena contested the last general elections in the state in alliance with the BJP. It split in 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion, toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and joined hands with the BJP to become the CM.
• Rajasthan: Nearly 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan where polling is underway under the second phase on Friday.Barring a few incidents of confrontation and complaints of fake voting in Barmer-Jaisalmer, the voting is being held peacefully.According to the official data, 59.19 per cent voter turnout was recorded in 13 constituencies of Barmer-Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jalore, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Kota-Bundi, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran.In the first two hours of the voting, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is contesting from Kota-Bundi, BJP state president C P Joshi contesting from Chittorgarh and Union minister and BJP candidate from Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat cast their votes.Assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani cast his vote in Ajmer while former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot exercised their franchise in Jhalawar and Jodhpur respectively.
• Kerala: With less than an hour remaining for the conclusion of polling in the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the state registered a turnout of 64.73 per cent at 5.20 pm on Friday.Kerala saw a voter turnout of 77.84 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.Congress leader Anto Antony, who is contesting from Pathanamthitta LS seat, and his party colleague Chandy Oommen expressed dissatisfaction over such incidents and the resultant delays, leading to several voters returning to their homes.A few voters and a polling agent reportedly died, of possible heat stroke or other heat-related issues. According to reports, one person each died at Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram, after casting their vote and a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kozhikode.
• Bihar: A voter turnout of 53.03 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar where polling was underway in the second phase on Friday, officials said.The polling started at 7 am in Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka constituencies, and would continue till 6 pm, they said.Kishanganj recorded a voter turnout of 56.12 per cent, Katihar registered 55.54 per cent, Purnea recorded 55.14 per cent, Bhagalpur registered 47.26 per cent and Banka recorded 49.50 per cent till 5 pm, officials said.
• Madhya Pradesh: At least 54.83 per cent of voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm in six constituencies in Madhya Pradesh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, an official said.The polling began at 7 am and is going on peacefully in six Lok Sabha seats, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan told PTI. State BJP chief V D Sharma is seeking a second term from the Khajuraho seat, where the opposition INDIA bloc is supporting former IAS officer R B Prajapati of the All India Forward Bloc against Sharma after Samajwadi Party candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected.
• Assam: An estimated 70.6 per cent of 77.26 lakh voters exercised their franchise in five Lok Sabha seats in Assam till 5 pm on Friday, election officials said.The turnout was expected to increase as those in queue before 5 pm would be allowed to vote, they said.Darrang-Udalguri Lok Sabha seat recorded the highest turnout of 72.9 per cent, followed by Nagaon (71.84), Karimganj (71.12), Diphu (69.62) and Silchar (53.06).Assam Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya is pitted against Surya Kanta Sarkar of Congress in Silchar, while BJP's Amarsing Tisso is contesting against Congress's Joyram Engleng in Diphu.Nagaon's sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi is contesting against BJP's Suresh Bora, while Karimganj's BJP MP Kripanath Malla is pitted against Congress's Hafiz Ahmed Rashid Choudhury.

A voter turnout of over 50 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections which was underway in 88 seats across 13 states amid complaints of EVM glitches and bogus voting in some booths in Kerala and West Bengal.

Voters in some villages of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani boycotted polls over various issues.

Polling for the second stage of the seven-phase elections started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Several states are experiencing intense heat conditions. Election officials said the highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura which registered 68.92 per cent polling till 3 pm, while the lowest turnout was in Maharashtra at 43.01 per cent.

"Aggregate turnout at 3 pm in Phase 2 is 50.25 per cent," the Election Commission said in a statement.

Polling is being held 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.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh (Cong), and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) are among the key candidates while BJP's Hema Malini, Om Birla and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.

Stressing on the importance of each vote, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi issued impassioned appeals asking people to step out and exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election.

In Kerala, the turnout was 51.64 per cent. As the day progressed, people continued to queue up in increasing numbers outside the over 25,000 polling booths in the state to cast their vote.

The election process, held amid tight security arrangements, was primarily incident free except for instances of bogus voting and breakdowns of electronic voting machines (EVMs) being reported in some booths of the state. Such incidents resulted in delaying the polling process in the affected booths.

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.

In Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, recorded a turnout of 68.92 per cent till 3 pm. Election officials said there were some complaints from a few booths but those were "promptly addressed".

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 where he was stationed in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat in Chhattisgarh, where a voter turnout of 63.92 per cent was recorded till 3 pm.

A polling booth at Sivni village in Balod district (Kanker seat) was decorated like a wedding 'mandap', with a display of rituals of traditional weddings. Several brides and grooms, dressed in their wedding finery, cast their votes at several polling booths. In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, there was a turnout of 46.68 per cent till 3 pm.

An estimated 60.32 per cent of the 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in the five parliamentary constituencies of Assam. In restive Manipur, where polling is being held under high presence of security personnel, the turnout was a high 68.48 per cent.

Out of 14 segments that are going to polls in Karnataka, the highest turnout of 58.76 per cent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur at 57.49 per cent. The least was 40.10 percent in Bangalore Central. The turnout was 40.77 per cent in Bangalore South and 41.12 per cent in Bangalore North.

Various restaurants in Bangalore were offering free dosas, laddu, coffee and other food items at discounted rates to customers who cast their vote. Till 3 pm, the voting percentage in Karnataka was 50.93.

A private hospital assisted 41 inpatients cast their vote with the help of city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Green corridors were created for the ambulances across constituencies to ensure easy, hassle-free voting.

A voter turnout of 43.01 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in eight constituencies in Maharashtra, while in Rajasthan, the turnout was 50.27 per cent. Incidents of confrontation between the supporters of the Congress candidate and an independent candidate were reported at a couple of places during polling in Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan.

Police said they were looking into the complaints besides some about fake voting from some places.

A voter turnout of 44.13 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh. Senior citizens dominated the early hours of voting in Noida in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency. Some residents' welfare associations made arrangements for electric vehicles to ferry voters to and from the polling booths.

In Bihar, the turnout was 44.24 per cent, 60.60 per cent in in West Bengal and 57.76 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir.

After Friday's phase, polling will be over in Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura. In the first phase on April 19, polling was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1).

The third phase of elections for 94 seats across 12 states and Union territories will be held on May 7. Counting will be done on June 4.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.