Porni Banerjee | ২৬ এপ্রিল ২০২৪ ১২ : ৪১

Voting in the second phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections is currently in action for 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories. As many as 16 crore voters, comprising 80.8 million male voters, 78 million female voters, and 5,929 third-genders will cast their votes today, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Vote for the second phase is conducted across India for 20 seats in Kerala, 14 seats in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, three each in Bengal and Chhattisgarh and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Tripura.

Important people who have cast their votes today include BJP veteran and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, author and philanthropist Sudha Murty and her husband and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, actor Prakash Raj, Team India coach Rahul Dravid, and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In addition, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his family and the state’s Leader of Opposition have also cast their votes.

The second phase polling is witnessing a tough battle in Kerala between two candidates including Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad and Shashi Tharoor against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram. Whereas Hema Malini is also in the fray in this phase from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.

Other key candidates for this round include KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot and Arun Govil from 1980’s iconic serial Ramayan, senior BJP leader Tejasvi Surya and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

To ensure a just and safe polling process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people, especially young and female voters to come forward to vote in “record numbers.”

“Urging everyone in constituencies voting today, in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, to participate in record numbers. A high voter turnout strengthens our democracy. I especially urge our young voters and women voters to turn out in great numbers. Your vote is your voice!” PM Modi wrote on X.

Meanwhile, West Bengal is seeing a bitter face-off between the ruling Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), hoping to expand in the state. Votes in Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat are currently underway. Violence has been reported outside a polling station in Balurghat.  

Additionally, to maintain integrity and ensure safety during voting process, a comprehensive surveillance system has been set up, that includes 4,553 flying squads, 5,731 static surveillance teams, 1,462 video surveillance teams, and 844 video viewing teams across 167,000 polling stations.

The third phase of election is scheduled for May 7 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4 – three days after the seventh and last phase of election.