Voting begins for the second phase of Lok Sabha election in 96 constituencies, across 12 states and 1 union territory. Voting is also underway in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha and in 18 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.
Prominent faces in the fray in the Lok Sabha contest are Union ministers Jitendra Singh, Jual Oram, Sadananda Gowda and Pon Radhakrishnan; former prime minister H D Deve Gowda; DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja and Kanimozhi; Congress leaders Verappa Moily and Raj Babbar; National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and BJP’s Hema Malini. Over 15.80 crore voters will decide the fate of the 1,600-odd contestants.
In Tamil Nadu, polling is being held in 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats. Polling in Vellore Lok Sabha seat was canceled Tuesday by the Election Commission following recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader recently.
The EC also announced postponement of polling in Tripura (East) Lok Sabha seat to the third phase on April 23, saying the prevailing law-and-order situation there is not conducive for holding free and fair polls.
Besides Tamil Nadu, polling is being held in 14 seats in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, eight in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one seat each in Manipur and Puducherry.
Live Updates:
33% voter turnout till 1 pm in Odisha
Around 33 per cent of the over 76.93 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 1 pm Thursday, as polling progressed peacefully in the five Lok Sabha and 35 assembly seats in Odisha.
36.31 per cent voting reported till 1 PM in Karnataka
An estimated 36.31 per cent voter turnout was reported till 1 PM Thursday in Karnataka, where 14 Lok Sabha constituencies are going to the polls in the first phase.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and his family cast their vote for the Rajnandgaon parliamentary constituency.
Election Commission officials searched the luggage and chopper of Karnakata Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Uttar Kanada
Uttara Kannada: Election Commission officials searched the luggage and chopper of Karnakata Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, today. pic.twitter.com/yiNIuwx0Fv
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav files nomination from Azamgarh parliamentary constituency.
Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar casts his vote at a polling booth in Dodda Halahalli, Kanakapura Taluka.
Former CM Siddaramaiah and his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah cast their votes at a polling booth in Mysuru.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi files her nomination from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency
West Bengal: CPI (M) candidate from Raiganj Md Salim’s car attacked in Islampur, Raiganj.
Samajwadi Party candidate Poonam Sinha files nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow constituency.
Karnataka BJP Vice President Tejaswini Ananth Kumar casts her vote at the polling station in Bengaluru’s Basavanagudi.
Farooq Abdullah & Omar Abdullah cast their votes at a polling station in Munshi Bagh Area in Srinagar LS constituency.
Maharashtra Congress chief and sitting MP from Nanded Ashok Chavan casts his vote at a polling station in Nanded parliamentary constituency.
7.60 percent reported from 14 constituencies in Karnataka till 9 am.
An overall polling percentage of 10.76 being reported from the eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh till 9am.
Voter Turnout till 9 am.
An average 8.6 percent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in 10 constituencies of Maharashtra.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and party’s candidate from Fatehpur Sikri casts his vote at the polling booth in Radha Ballabh Inter College.
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dinakaran cast his vote at a polling station in Besant Nagar in Chennai South parliamentary constituency.
Jammu & Kashmir: People queue up outside Waliwar C polling booth number 105 in Ganderbal district of Srinagar Parliamentary constituency, to cast their votes
DMK President MK Stalin casts his vote at polling booth at SIET College in Teynampet.
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, his wife Anitha Kumaraswamy and their son & JD(S) candidate from Mandya, Nikhil, cast their votes at a polling station in Ramanagara.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh casts his vote at a polling booth in Imphal.
RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale casts his vote at polling station number 45 in Seshadripuram
Karnataka: Deputy CM G Parameshwara and his wife Kannika Parameshwari cast their vote at a polling booth in Koratagere, Tumkur.
DMK Lok Sabha candidate from Thoothukudi, Kanimozhi casts her vote at a polling station in Chennai’s Alwarpet, says, “People in the opposition have been harassed, raids targeted at opposition candidates. BJP have completely taken over AIADMK.”
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy casts his vote at a polling station.
Manipur: Governor Najma Heptulla casts her vote at a polling station in Imphal.
Puducherry: Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi stands in queue to cast her vote
Tamil Nadu: CM Edappadi K Palanisamy cast his vote at a polling station in Edappadi, Selam.
Tamil Nadu: Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan and his daughter Shruti Haasan queue up outside polling station 27 at Alwarpet Corporation School in Chennai to cast their votes.
Karnataka: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrives at polling booth 54 in Jayanagar of Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency to cast her vote.
West Bengal: Polling is yet to begin at booth number 29/134 at Islampur Hindi FP School of Uttar Dinajpur, in Raiganj Parliamentary constituency, as the EVM at the booth is not functioning.
Tamil Nadu: Nalini Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram and his wife Srinidi Rangarajan casts their vote at a polling station in Karaikudi, Sivaganga.
Maharashtra: Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde casts his vote at a polling station in Solapur
Tamil Nadu: Actor turned politician Rajinikanth casts his vote at the polling station in Stella Maris College, in Chennai Central parliamentary constituency.
Congress leader P Chidambaram casts his vote at a polling station in Karaikudi, Sivaganga.
Mobile internet services have been snapped in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar and other parts of the valley as a precautionary measure, as Srinagar and Udhampur parliamentary constituencies go to vote today in the second phase.
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