• Tripura: The Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency recorded a voter turnout of 69.48 per cent till 3 pm on Friday, as polling remained peaceful so far, an official said. Voters came out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right since morning, Additional Chief Electoral Officer S Bandopadhyay said.The poll percentage was 54.98 till 1 pm, he said."Long 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,” Bandopadhyay said.He said the Election Commission had received some complaints from a few booths, but those were "promptly addressed".Nearly 14 lakh voters in the constituency, including 6.94 lakh women and 13 persons of third gender, will decide the fate of nine candidates in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls.
• Maharashtra: A voter turnout of 43.01 percent was recorded till 3 pm in eight constituencies in Maharashtra in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said.Voting started at 7 am in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in the central Marathwada region, and will end at 6 pm.Wardha recorded 45.95 percent turnout, Akola 42.69 percent, Amravati 43.76 percent, Buldhana 41.66 percent, Hingoli 40.5 percent, Nanded 42.42 percent, Parbhani 44.49 percent and Yavatmal-Washim 42.55 percent, 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.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.
• Chhattisgarh: A voter turnout of 63.92 per cent was recorded till 3 pm on Friday in three Lok Sabha constituencies, all having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said."Amid tight security, polling began in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies at 7 am and was underway smoothly. Till 3 pm, 63.92 per cent polling has been registered," the official said.Voting concluded at those places where polling time was till 3 pm, he said.The tribal-dominated Kanker seat recorded 67.50 per cent turnout, Mahasamund 63.30 percent and Rajnandgaon 61.34 percent, he said.Among the early voters, state assembly speaker and former chief minister Raman Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, former MP Abhishek Singh cast their votes in Kawardha town (Rajnandgaon seat), BJP candidate Santosh Pandey and his wife at Sahaspur-Lohara in Rajnandgaon, BJP candidate Rupkumari Chaudhary in Harratar village in Mahasamund, BJP candidate Bhojraj Nag and his wife at Antagarh in Kanker.According to the police, 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.
  
• Kerala: With less than three hours remaining for the conclusion of polling in the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the state registered a turnout of 52.25 per cent at 3.20 pm. As the day progressed, people continued to queue up in increasing numbers outside the over 25,000 polling booths in the state, braving the rising temperatures, to cast their vote. At 3.20 pm, the highest turnout was registered in the northern Kerala Lok Sabha constituency of Kannur at 54.96 per cent with Alappuzha a close second at 54.78 per cent.
  
• Karnataka: With less than three hours left for voting to end, over 50 per cent turnout was reported in Karnataka where polling is underway in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday. According to election officials, the voter percentage till 3 PM was about 50.93 per cent. The voting that began at 7am, will end by 6 pm.Out of 14 segments that are going to polls today, highest turnout of 58.76 percent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur at 57.49 percent. The least was 40.10 percent in Bangalore Central. The turnout was 40.77 percent in Bangalore South and 41.12 percent in Bangalore North.Bangalore Rural that is witnessing a tight contest between Congress' D K Suresh-- MP and brother of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar-- and Dr C N Manjunath, a noted cardiologist and son-in-law of former PM H D Deve Gowda, on a BJP ticket, has recorded 49.62 percent polling.
• Rajasthan: After low turnout in the first phase of polling on April 19, the polling turnout showed a significant upward trend in the second phase in Rajasthan where more than 50 per cent voting took place in 13 Lok Sabha seats by 3 pm, which was 41.51 per cent on 12 seats in the first phase. 50.27 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 3 pm across the 13 parliamentary constituencies. At the same time, 66.52 per cent of voting took place in the Bagidora assembly constituency, according to official data. This is the final phase of polling in Rajasthan. The highest voter turnout of 60.01 per cent was recorded in the tribal-dominated Banswara-Dungarpur seat in South Rajasthan by 3 pm while the Barmer-Jaisalmer seat located along the Indo-Pak border recorded 59.71 per cent voting. Tonk-Sawai Madhopur recorded the lowest turnout of 42.61 per cent till 3 pm, according to official data. Voting percentage in other constituencies till 3 pm stood at 43.28 in Ajmer, 45.39 in Bhilwara, 51.71 in Chittorgarh, 49.85 in Jalore, 56.12 in Jhalawar, 50 in Jodhpur, 54.78 in Kota, 44.27 in Pali, 43.94 in Rajsamand and 51.60 in Udaipur.
  
• Madhya Pradesh: A voter turnout of 48.68 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh in the second phase of general elections on Friday, an official said.The polling began at 7 am and is going on peacefully in all the six Lok Sabha seats, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan told PTI. The early voters included Union minister Prahlad Patel in Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019 and Union minister Virendra Kumar along with his wife in Tikamgarh LS seat. 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 All India Forward Bloc against Sharma after Samajwadi Party candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected.
• Assam: An estimated 60.32 per cent of 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in the five parliamentary constituencies of Assam, where polling is underway. The highest polling of 64.43 per cent was recorded in Darrang-Udalguri, closely followed by 60.74 per cent in Diphu (ST), 60.56 per cent in Nagaon, 60.36 per cent in Karimganj and 53.06 per cent in Silchar.
• Bihar: A voter turnout of 44.24 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar. Purnea recorded a voter turnout of 46.78 per cent, Katihar (46.76 per cent), Kishanganj (45.58 per cent), Banka (42.89 per cent) and Bhagalpur (39.49 per cent) till 3 pm.
• Uttar Pradesh: A voter turnout of 44.13 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, according to officials. Voting in Uttar Pradesh in the second phase is underway in Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura constituencies.Among the 91 candidates in the fray in this phase are actor-turned-politician Hema Malini, seeking a third term from Mathura on a BJP ticket, and actor Arun Govil, who portrayed the role of Lord Ram in television serial "Ramayan".The ruling BJP has fielded Govil from his native place Meerut, Atul Garg from Ghaziabad and Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar. Danish Ali of the Congress is contesting the polls from Amroha.BJP candidate Hema Malini, while talking to reporters, said she was hopeful that people would vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pressing the lotus button on the EVMs. "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.

BJP candidate Hema Malini, while talking to reporters, said she was hopeful that people would vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pressing the lotus button on the EVMs.

"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.

BJP candidate Hema Malini, while talking to reporters, said she was hopeful that people would vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pressing the lotus button on the EVMs.

"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.

BJP candidate Hema Malini, while talking to reporters, said she was hopeful that people would vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pressing the lotus button on the EVMs.

"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.

A voter turnout ranging from 18.83 per cent to 36.42 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling on Friday in phase two of the Lok Sabha elections covering 88 constituencies in 13 states and union territories amid reports of EVM glitches in some booths in Kerala and West Bengal.

Polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

Tripura recorded the highest voting percentage of 36.42 till 11 am, while the lowest voter turnout was in Maharashtra with 18.83 per cent.

Kerala reported brisk polling with 25.61 per cent voters exercising their franchise.

However, electronic voting machine (EVM) breakdowns were reported in some booths of the state.

One elderly person also reportedly died in Ottapalam area of Palakkad district after casting his vote.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, BJP state president K Surendran, saffron party candidates Suresh Gopi and Anil Antony as well as Congress' K C Venugopal and Shafi Parambil were among the early voters.

In Karnataka, an estimated 22.34 per cent turnout was reported with long queues seen at polling booths.

IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, his wife and nominated member of Rajya Sabha Sudha Murty, cricketing legend Rahul Dravid, Union Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha member Nirmala Sitharaman, and Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena were among the early voters in Bengaluru city.

The erstwhile Mysuru royal family scion and BJP candidate from Mysore Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, along with wife Trishika Kumari Devi and "Rajmata" Pramoda Devi Wadiyar voted in Mysuru.

Madhya Pradesh saw about 28.15 per cent of voters casting their ballots in six Lok Sabha constituencies while voting for three Lok Sabha constituencies, having Naxalite presence, in Chhattisgarh saw 35.47 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise.

The early voters in Madhya Pradesh include Union minister Prahlad Patel in Damoh Lok Sabha seat, which he represented in 2019, and Union minister Virendra Kumar and his wife in Tikamgarh seat.

West Bengal recorded nearly 31.25 per cent voters exercising their vote in three Lok Sabha constituencies.

However, the Election Commission registered 290 complaints, mostly related to EVM malfunctioning, in the state.

In Manipur, a voter turnout of 33.22 per cent was recorded till 11 am while in Bihar, 21.68 per cent of over 93 lakh voters in five Lok Sabha constituencies exercised their franchise.

In the north, Uttar Pradesh recorded an average voter turnout of 24.31 per cent in eight parliamentary constituencies while Jammu saw more than 26.61 per cent of the over 17.8 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise.

Rajasthan recorded nearly 26.84 percent voter turnout across 13 Lok Sabha seats and one assembly constituency.

Assam saw 27.43 per cent voters turning out to exercise their franchise.

Prominent candidates who exercised their franchise are Assam Minister for Excise, Transport and Fisheries Parimal Suklabaidya and his Congress rival Surya Kanta Sarkar in Silchar (SC), Congress candidate Joyram Engleng in Diphu (ST) and sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi in Nagaon.

Several senior BJP and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, and Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Choudhary and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, are in the fray in the 88 seats where polling is underway.

In 2019, the BJP had won 52 and its existing allies 12 of these seats, including seven of eight in Uttar Pradesh, all 13, eight and seven in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively, and four of the five seats each in Assam and Bihar.

The constituents of the now INDIA bloc had won 23 seats in the last general election.

Polling was held in 102 seats in the the first phase polls on April 19.

The turnout in the first phase was recorded at 62.37 per cent which may still be revised upwards as votes are tallied. The voting percentage in the first phase in 2019 was 69.43 per cent when 91 seats went to the polls.