Lok Sabha polls: 61% votes cast in phase 2, Maharashtra has lowest voter turnout

The voter turnout on Friday was around 60.96 per cent till 7 pm in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, which took place in 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories.

According to the Electoral Commission (EC), turnout for these seats in 2019 was just over 72 percent.

Sources at the EC said this figure could rise thanks to the power of the watchdog that collects the data from various polling stations.

In the first phase, on April 19, when elections took place in 102 seats, turnout fell by an estimated 4.5 percent compared to 2019.

However, the EC has yet to officially release the turnout average for the first phase.

It made special arrangements to improve turnout in phase two after the dip in the first phase. The measures include extension of polling hours by two hours at various polling booths in Bihar. There was shade from the heat and drinking water at the polling stations. According to the EC, the elections took place without incident, with people enthusiastically queuing to vote despite the heat wave in various parts of the country.

With phase two now complete, voting has been completed in fourteen states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and most states in the Northeast, except Assam.

According to this newspaper’s estimates, calculated based on the data on the EC’s turnout app at 9 p.m., the turnout was almost 65 percent.

The trend of voter apathy in urban areas, such as in Bengaluru, continued, with turnout falling further by a few percentage points in Bangalore North, Central and South seats from 2019 onwards.

The 88 seats that voted on Friday included the rest of the polling booths of the Outer Manipur seat, parts of which were voting in phase one. In the remaining 87 seats, turnout in 2019 was 72.08 percent.

For example, Kerala recorded a turnout of 65.28 percent, up from 77.84 percent in 2019. In Bihar, where elections were held on five seats, the turnout was 54.91 percent, compared to 63.03 percent in 2019. In Uttar Pradesh the turnout was 54.91 percent. the voter turnout in the eight seats was 54.82 per cent, compared to 62.76 per cent in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Voters in some villages of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Banswara in Rajasthan and Parbhani in Maharashtra planned to boycott the polls on various issues but were later persuaded by authorities to cast their votes.

The Election Commission data showed that the highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura, which polled 78.53 percent, followed by Manipur with 77.18 percent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the second phase was “too good” for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), describing the support for it as unprecedented.

“The voters want the good governance of the NDA. Youth and women voters provide strong NDA support,” Modi said.

After the first phase, he had said it was clear that people across India were voting for the NDA in record numbers.

First print: April 26, 2024 | 10:54 PM IST