The second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections kicked off with a strong voter turnout in several states on Friday morning. According to the latest figures released by the Election Commission of India at 9 AM, Tripura led the way with an impressive 16.65% voter turnout in the North-eastern region.

West Bengal (15.68%), Manipur (15.49%), and Chhattisgarh (15.42%) also witnessed a high voter turnout in the initial hours of polling. In contrast, Maharashtra recorded the lowest turnout at 7.45% as of 9 AM.

Other states participating in the second phase reported the following voter turnout percentages by 9 AM: Assam (9.71%), Bihar (9.84%), Jammu and Kashmir (10.39%), Karnataka (9.21%), Kerala (11.98%), Madhya Pradesh (13.82%), Rajasthan (11.77%), and Uttar Pradesh (11.67%).

Notably, the overall voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was over 67%.

Meanwhile, voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7:00 am on Friday across 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territories.

Due to severe heat the polling time has been extended till 6 PM in many polling stations in Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria and Munger constituencies in Bihar to facilitate voters coming to the voting booths.

The polling for the Betul Parliamentary Constituency in Madhya Pradesh was rescheduled to the third phase due to the death of a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

The polling for 102 seats in phase one was completed on April 19.

With 1202 candidates (1098 males, 102 females, and 2 from the third gender) in the fray, the second phase of voting holds significant importance. Notably, there are 34.8 lakh first-time voters and 3.28 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.

As the nation exercises its democratic right, all eyes are on the high-stakes battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a third consecutive term, and the opposition bloc INDIA, determined to unseat the BJP from power.

(Inputs from ANI)