Lok Sabha polls: Voter turnout around 40% till 2pm in most of 13 states and UTs

Voter turnout touched nearly 40% till 2 pm in most of the 13 states and union territories in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on Friday. Tripura continued to register strong voting as it registered the highest with 54.26%, while the lowest voter turnout was witnessed in Maharashtra at 31.77%.

Voter turnout in Kerala was 39.26%, in Karnataka it was 38.23%, and in Uttar Pradesh it was 35.73% till 2 pm.

Elections for the second phase are being held 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.

Key candidates for this round include the BJP's Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar -- up against Congress's Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram; actors Hema Malini, and Arun Govil from 1980s iconic serial Ramayan, senior BJP leader Tejasvi Surya and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Congress's Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel. and Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot.

General Election 2024 Live Updates: Lok Sabha Election LIVE: Tripura sees highest turnout of 15.42% till 9 am, Maharashtra records lowest