A turnout of 64.7% was recorded in the second phase of elections in India, which covered 88 Lok Sabha constituencies across 12 states and the Union territory of J&K. Despite punishing heat conditions with temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius in many places, the elections were largely peaceful. The overall voter turnout is subject to revision, but as of 11 pm on Friday, it stood at 64.7%. The figure might go up as the numbers get updated.
The Election Commission’s voter turnout app reported that Tripura had the highest turnout at 79.5%, while Uttar Pradesh witnessed the lowest at 54.9%. Manipur recorded the second-highest turnout at 78%. However, compared to the previous election, the turnout was lower in most states. Kerala recorded the highest drop in voter turnout, with a decrease of 11.6 percentage points from 77.8% in 2019 to 66.2% this time. Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh also saw a decrease in turnout by 9%, 8.9%, and 7.4%, respectively.
Of the total seats in Bihar, the five seats had the second-lowest turnout among the states at 57.1%, compared to 62.9% in the previous election. The drop in turnout was the lowest in Karnataka, with only a 0.6% decrease compared to the previous election.
The second phase of voting marked the completion of polling in 14 states/UTs. In this phase, voters from 46 villages in Naxal-affected Bastar and Kanker parliamentary constituencies in Chhattisgarh cast their votes in polling booths set up in their own villages for the first time in a Lok Sabha election.
With the conclusion of the second phase, 189 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats have completed polling in the seven-phase general elections.
Despite the scorching sun and soaring temperatures, polling took place from 7 am to 6 pm. Several constituencies reported high temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, which kept many voters indoors.
Notable candidates whose fate was sealed in this phase include Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Arun Govil, and HD Kumaraswamy. Some candidates, such as Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Hema Malini, are eyeing a hat-trick in their respective seats.
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