Lok Sabha Election 2019 Phase 2 LIVE: 400 booths in Karnataka’s 1st phase of polling staffed by women 

Close to 400 of the 30,164 polling stations in the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka where voting was held on Thursday were staffed exclusively by women, an official said on Thursday.

"The 393 'sakhi' (women's) booths were staffed by 10 women, including 4 polling personnel, 3 assistants and 3 constables, with two outside and one inside the booth," Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told IANS here.

The maximum number of sakhi booths - 130 - were in Bangalore's 3 parliamentary seats, followed by 46 in Bangalore Rural, 45 in Udupi-Chikamagalur, 34 in Mysore, 30 in Chikkaballapur, 28 in Mandya, 22 in Tumkur, 20 in Dakshina Kannada, 14 in Hassan and 12 each in Chitradurga and Kolar.

Except for some incidents of clashes between stone pelters and security forces, the Lok Sabha election ended peacefully in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat on Thursday while eliciting overwhelming voter turnout in the Udhampur constituency.

Clashes broke out between security forces and stone pelters who tried to disrupt the voting process in Batmaloo area of Srinagar city, Pandach area of Ganderbal district and at four other places in Badgam district in the Srinagar seat, officials said.

One civilian and four policemen, including two officers, were injured in these clashes but the security forces said they exercised maximum restraint to ensure that the violence did not overshadow the voting in Srinagar.

Technical glitches in electronic voting machines (EVM) marred voting in seven of the 12 states that went to polls in the second phase of the staggered Lok Sabha elections.

Faulty EVMs delayed polls in several constituencies in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

In Odisha, EVM glitches in many booths in Talsara Assembly constituency were reported while polling was delayed in six booths in Bonai Assembly constituency. Odisha saw both Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections.

The CPI-M has urged the Supreme Court to kill the electoral bonds, calling it a "diabolical scheme which legitimizes big corporate and illegal money funding to the ruling party".

An editorial in the CPI-M's "People's Democracy" said: "The electoral bonds scheme which came into effect in March 2018 is a brazen and opaque method to funnel corporate funds, kickbacks and black money into the ruling party's coffers."

It said that the bonds provide for anonymous donors giving unlimited amounts of money to a political party through designated accounts in the State Bank of India. Even foreign companies operating in India have been allowed to donate to political parties.

A voter on Thursday smashed the electronic voting machine (EVM) while casting his vote in Akola Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra

The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. at the Balapur polling station no. 29 where polling was underway for the second phase of elections in 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, said an Election Commission official.

The voter, Shrikrishna Ghyare, was taken into custody. The motive behind the action was not immediately known, police said.

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) west Delhi candidate, Balbir Singh Jakhar, who was the last of seven candidates announced by the party, on Thursday became the first to file his nomination in the national capital.

The 45-year-old filed his nomination papers in the presence of senior party leaders Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai among others at the District Magistrate's office in Raja Garden.

Jakhar is the President of the Dwarka Court Bar Association and Chairman of the Co-ordination Committee of the All Delhi District Court Bar Association.

Starting from the West Delhi, the other AAP candidates will file their nominations in the coming days, Rai said.

A little over half of Tamil Nadu's over 5.84 crore voters cast their votes in 38 Lok Sabha seats on Thursday till 3 PM, even as the DMK charged the ruling AIADMK with planning to do "booth-capturing" later in the day.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo said no reports of booth capturing or any other untoward incident regarding law and order has been received so far.

He said the voter turnout in 38 Lok Sabha segments stood at 52.02 per cent at 3 PM, while maintaining that polling was peaceful.

Karur recorded the highest voter turnout at 56.85 per cent while Chennai Central clocked the lowest at 45.65 per cent, according to the EC data.

At 3 PM, the turnout was 55.97 per cent in the 18 Assembly segments where bypolls are being held along with the Lok Sabha elections.

Technical glitches relating to Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines held up polling in the morning in several constituencies across Tamil Nadu till the machines were changed.

In the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency, voters had to stand in queue in several booths for nearly an hour to cast their votes. Similarly, at a booth in Chennai, there was a technical glitch that delayed voting for also about an hour.

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo told reporters that 384 faulty EVMs and 692 faulty VVPAT machines were replaced across the state and after that, polling went on smoothly.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Junagadh, Gujarat: Hum aapko har bhashan mein apne man ki baat, hamare dil mein kya hai, hum ye nahi batana chahte. Hum aap ke sath mil kar desh ko aage badhana chahte hain. Hum 2 hindustan nahi ban'ne denge, agar nyay Ambani ko milega to phir kisan ko bhi milega.

The BJP and the BSP on Thursday traded allegations that some people wearing 'burqa (veil) were indulging in fake voting in each others favour in the Amroha Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Kunwar Danish Ali alleged that fake voting was taking place in favour of the BJP by people wearing burqa.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feared losing the seat and was resorting to unfair means.

BJP candidate Kanwar Singh Tanwar, on the other hand, alleged that the SP-BSP alliance was sending people wearing burqa to vote in its favour.

Polling in the 38 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu crossed the halfway mark on Thursday with 52.02% of the total 5.8 voters casting their vote.

Speaking to reporters here, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said 52.02 per cent of the eligible voters had voted by 3 p.m. In 2014, polling of about 73 per cent was registered. Sahoo said 55.97% polling was recorded in the 18 Assembly seats where by-elections were being held.

He said a total of 384 faulty electronic voting machines and 692 faulty Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced across the state.

Surendra Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha has recommended re-polling in booth 213 in Sundergarh, booth 129 in Bonai, and booths 210 & 222 in Daspalla assembly constituency due to technical problems in EVM machines and VVPATs.

Voter turnout till 3 PM for 2nd phase of Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra - 46.63%, Tamil Nadu - 52.02%, Odisha - 53%, Manipur - 67.5%, Uttar Pradesh - 50.39%, Chhattisgarh - 59.72%, Karnataka - 49.26%.

Father of a victim in Malegaon blast has filed application against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur after she was declared BJP candidate from Bhopal. Application has questioned her candidature before NIA court citing her health which was one of the reasons in her bail application.

At loggerheads for decades, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati are scheduled to share the dais at a joint rally of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the Samajwadi Party citadel of Mainpuri on Friday.

Preparations are underway for the rally at Christian Field to send out a message to our political opponents that the alliance against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh shares a strong bond, an SP party leader said.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati have been bitter rivals since 1995 when SP cadres allegedly attacked the state guest house where the BSP chief had been camping with her supporters.

The BJP on Thursday accused RJD leadership of promoting dynasty and using politics for personal "enjoyment", as it hit out at Tejashwi Yadav after he questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's OBC credentials.

BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav accused Tejashwi Yadav, son of Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, of posting "arrogant, graceless and childish" tweets on the "advice" of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whom he dubbed as the Bihar leader's "friend, philosopher and guide".

The sharp attack from the BJP leader, who is also the party's in-charge for Bihar affairs, came after the state's former deputy chief minister posted tweets, alleging that Modi's OBC's credentials are "fake" and he had done nothing for backward castes.

Modi's caste is categorised under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Thursday alleged violation of the model code of conduct by DMK leaders MK Stalin and Dayanidhi Maran, and urged the Election Commission of India to act against them. AIADMK spokesperson and advocate R M Babu Murugavel filed separate complaints with the ECI against the two DMK leaders.

In his complaint against Stalin, Murugavel said that while addressing the media after casting his vote here, the DMK chief with an intention to "divert the mindset of the voters" had made "false and frivolous allegations" against the BJP government at the Centre and the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

Murugavel alleged that Stalin wanted them to "vote against central and state governments." "It is a clear indication to the voters to cast their votes in his alliance's favour. It is clear violation of the model code of conduct (MCC)," he added.

SP-BSP-RLD candidate from Lucknow parliamentary constituency, Poonam Sinha, files nomination. Shatrughan Sinha & Dimple Yadav also present.

One more Bangladeshi actor, Ghazi Abdul Noor, who attended a political rally in Dumdum, West Bengal has been asked to leave India. In any case his visa has expired. Appropriate action is also being taken regarding his overstay in contravention of visa validity.

A day after resigning from the Goa Forward Party, former state minister Atanasio Monserrate joined the Congress on Thursday, nearly four years after he was expelled from it for alleged anti-party activities.

Soon after joining the Congress in the presence of Goa party chief Girish Chodankar and others, Monserrate told reporters that he would contest the upcoming Panaji Assembly seat bypoll on the opposition party's ticket.

The by-election, necessitated following the death of sitting MLA and then chief minister Manohar Parrikar last month, is scheduled on May 19.

Election Commission of India warns Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi over his 'Modi ki Sena' comment, asks him to desist from using references to security forces for political propaganda and to be careful in future.

Kerala Chief Electoral Officer has recommended "appropriate action" against BJP state chief PS Sreedharan Pillai for allegedly making anti-Islam remarks during an election campaign meeting in Attingal Lok Sabha constituency on April 14.

In his report to the Election Commission, Kerala Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Teeka Ram Meena said Pillai made the remarks while countering the comments of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the number of people killed during the Balakot air strike.

"Our Rahul Gandhi, Yechury, Pinarayi and all are saying that, after getting there... the dead bodies... which caste, which religion... if they are Islam then there will be a few signs... if only you remove the dresses only then it can be found out... so after doing all that, we should come back is what they say," Pillai had said, according to Meena's report to the poll body.

Pillai made these remarks during the poll campaign meeting organised for BJP candidate Sobha Surendran.

A 95-year-old man collapsed and later died while waiting for his turn to vote, at a polling booth in Ganjam. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.

An EVM was vandalized during a clash between TMC and BJP workers in Chopra; More details awaited.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh jumped the queues to vote in the election in the state's Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat on Thursday.

Voters, some of who who had lined up even before the polling stations opened at 7am, were not amused.

Some pointed out that many other politicians had stood patiently in queues along with the general people.

The Chief Minister and his wife voted in a polling booth under the Heingang Assembly constituency, officials said.

An estimated 46.42 per cent of over 69 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 1 pm on Thursday in five parliamentary constituencies of Assam, an election official said

The voting process for the second phase began at 7am in 8,992 polling booths of Karimganj (SC), Silchar, Autonomous Districts (ST), Nowgong and Mangaldoi Lok Sabha seats.

According to the official, there were reports of EVM glitches in several booths, but the polling personnel have addressed the issues.

Mangaldoi recorded maximum polling till 1 pm at 50.97 per cent followed by Autonomous Districts at 49.90 per cent, Karimganj (SC) at 46.87 per cent and Silchar at 44.13 Nowgong recorded the lowest voter turnout among the five seats at 41.42 per cent.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday expressed concern over reports of EVM malfunctions in some parts of the Uttar Pradesh where polling for the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls are taking place and asked the Election Commission to take immediate steps to rectify them.

Akhilesh, who arrived to file his nomination papers, said he has been apprised about EVM malfunction in Bulandshahr and some other places.

"It is the responsibility of the EC to rectify the problem within 15 minutes where ever there are reports of EVM malfunction so that polling is held undisturbed," the SP president said.

Nearly 33% voting was recorded for the five Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly constituencies in Odisha till 1 p.m. on Thursday, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar.

"The second phase voting is underway smoothly and peacefully," he said and added that adequate security personnel had been deployed in Maoist-affected areas.

Elections are being held for Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska Lok Sabha seats and 35 Assembly seats under them.

Villagers of Mangoli Kala boycott Lok Sabha Elections 2019 over lack of adequate irrigation facilities in the village. Polling official of booth number 41 says, "Nobody has turned up to vote till now."

BJP candidate from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal parliamentary constituency, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur will file her nomination from the seat on April 23.

A man flung shoes at BJP leaders addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters in Delhi on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear why the person, who identified himself as a doctor by profession, threw the shoes.

He was immediately bundled out by security guards at the party office and will be handed over to police.

Election officials have ordered an inquiry after some voters recorded their voting process at a polling booth here and posted it on Facebook, police said.

As per Election Commission guidelines, voters are not allowed to carry their mobile phones within a 100-metre radius of polling stations on the day of voting, an official said.

"This action (Facebook video) is a clear violation of the EC guidelines and also against the principles of secret ballot," an official said.

Cases are also being registered under Cyber Act against the concerned people, who have been asked to delete the video on Facebook, an official said.

Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar casts his vote at a polling booth in Dodda Halahalli, Kanakapura Taluka, Karnataka

SP-BSP-RLD candidate from Lucknow parliamentary constituency, Poonam Sinha, holds a road show after filing nomination; Shatrughan Sinha & Dimple Yadav also present

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has complained to the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and demanded action against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly misbehaving with government officers on election duty.

The party alleged that Mr Pradhan prevented officials from checking his helicopter.

"Yesterday as aired by several TV channels, it was seen that BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan misbehaved and prevented government officers from checking his helicopter and a sealed suitcase, which was being done as part of normal election duty checking," the complaint stated.

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

Karimganj – 28.30% Silchar – 27.05% Autonomous Districts- 28.90% Mangaldoi – 31.26% Nowgong – 18.51%

Nageena: 24% Amroha: 25% Bulandshahr: 25% Aligarh: 23% Hathras: 26% Mathura: 24% Fatehpur Sikhri: 23.47%

Naxals triggered an IED blast on Thursday in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district where polling for Lok Sabha elections is underway, a senior police official said.

Security personnel lob tear gas shells and lathi charge locals as they block NH-34 in protest after unknown miscreants allegedly prevented them from casting their votes at Digirpar polling booth in Chopra, in Islampur subdivision of North Dinajpur in West Bengal

Around 16.78 per cent of voters cast their ballots on Thursday in the first two hours of polling in three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, amid reports of sporadic incidents of violence from some areas, officials said.

Voting picked up with an overall polling percentage of 24.31 being reported from eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh in the first four hours.

Omar Abdullah on Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur: BJP have given ticket (from Bhopal) to a candidate who is not only an accused in a terror case but is also out on bail on health grounds. If her health condition doesn't permit her to be in jail,how does it permit her to contest polls?

State BJP Vice President Tejaswini Ananth Kumar casts her vote for Lok Sabha elections 2019 at the polling station in Sri Vasavi Vidya Niketan in Bengaluru's Basavanagudi.

Upset over absence of a polling booth in their village, residents of Gujjupura in UP's Bijnor district boycotted voting in the initial hours of polling on Thursday.

However, with the district administration intervening, voters later went on to cast their vote.

The polling booth comes under Nagina (SC) parliamentary constituency.

Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah cast their votes at a polling station in Munshi Bagh Area in Srinagar LS constituency. O Abdullah says, "Now that LS polls are due to conclude, we can only hope that Centre together with EC gives people of J&K an elected govt which is their right."

Maharashtra Congress chief and sitting MP from Nanded Ashok Chavan casts his vote at a polling station in Nanded parliamentary constituency

A voter turnout of 7.60 per cent is being reported from 14 constituencies in Karnataka till 9 am, with the highest number of people voting in Dakshina Kannada and the least in Bangalore Central during the first two hours.

Sitting MP from Silchar & party's candidate from the parliamentary constituency, Sushmita Dev, casts her vote along with her mother and sister at a polling booth in Silchar.

Former Prime Minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda and his wife cast their votes at a polling station in Hassan's Paduvalahippe in Karnataka

An estimated 11.61 per cent of the 69,10,592 electorate exercised their franchise in five parliamentary seats of Assam in the second phase polling on Thursday.

UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and party's candidate from Fatehpur Sikri casts his vote at the polling booth in Radha Ballabh Inter College, Agra

Around 7 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first two hours of polling on Thursday in five Lok Sabha and 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha.

Voting is progressing at a slow pace in Uttar Pradesh, with an overall polling percentage of 10.76 being reported from the eight parliamentary constituencies in the state during the first two hours.

Polling is underway in Nagina (SC), Amroha, Bulandshahr (SC), Aligarh, Hathras (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura and Agra (SC) constituencies.

An average 8.6 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in 10 constituencies of Maharashtra where polling was underway in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, an official said.

Tamil Nadu recorded 13.48 per cent voting till 9 am on Thursday in 38 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, where Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, DMK's Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi and Karti Chidambaram of the Congress are among key contenders.

An 80-year-old patient, Jogindero Devi, comes from Kathua district hospital at polling booth number 2, in Kathua, to cast her vote for Lok Sabha Elections 2019. She will return to the hospital after casting her vote.

“When you vote today, remember that you vote for Nyay. Nyay for our unemployed youth; for our struggling farmers; for the small traders whose businesses were destroyed by Demonetisation; for those who were persecuted because of their caste or religion,” tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

DMK President MK Stalin casts his vote at polling booth at SIET College in Teynampet, Chennai.

Polling percentage recorded in Assam (5 seats) - 9.51%, J&K (2 seats)- 0.99%, Karnataka (14 seats) 1.14%, Maha(10) - 0.85%, Manipur (1)-1.78%, Odisha (5)-2.15%, TN (38)- 0.81% , UP (8)- 3.99%, WB (3)- 0.55%, Chhattisgarh (3)- 7.75% & Puducherry-1.62%, till 9am

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 during Lok Sabha Election 2019.

RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale casts his vote at polling station number 45 in Seshadripuram in Bengaluru

Deputy CM G Parameshwara and his wife Kannika Parameshwari cast their vote at a polling booth in Koratagere, Tumkur in Karnataka

People queue up outside booth number number 46 in Gantholi village of Govardhan block in Mathura. The voting is yet to begin due to EVM malfunction.

Voting procedure was halted at booths 261 and 263 in Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha due to EVM malfunction. The voting has now resumed

Maoists strike during second phase of polls in Odisha. They detonated IED to target polling vehicle. Polling officer was shot dead in Maoist firing. The attack took place in Barla in Kandhamal district Odisha

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan and his daughter Shruti Haasan cast their votes at polling station 27 at Alwarpet Corporation School in Chennai.

Independent candidate from Bangalore Central, Prakash Raj queues up at a polling booth, to cast his vote in Lok Sabha Elections 2019

Voter turnout in Bihar (5 constituencies) is 5.73%, till 8am. Bhagalpur has recorded 7% votes, while Banka, Purnea and Katihar polled 4%. Kishanganj recorded 3.5% voting.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman casts her vote at polling booth 54 in Jayanagar of Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency

Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi stands in queue to cast her vote in Lok Sabha Elections 2019

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palanisamy cast his vote at a polling station in Edappadi, Selam

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

‘People of Tamil Nadu want a change of government in the centre and state that is why there is support coming for us’, says P Chidambaram

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.

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine not working properly at a polling station in Silchar. Polling officers trying to fix it.

Congress leader P Chidambaram casts his vote at a polling station in Karaikudi, Sivaganga.

Actor turned politician Rajinikanth casts his vote at the polling station in Stella Maris College, in Chennai Central parliamentary constituency.

Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde casts his vote at a polling station in Solapur, in the second phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

Voting began on 95 seats for across 11 states and 1 union territory. States which are voting for Phase 2 Lok Sabha Election are Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Union Territory Puducherry.

Voting was also underway in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha and in 18 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.

The voting time for Phase 2 elections is from 7 AM to 6 PM. Around 1,600 candidates are contesting on 95 seats for the second phase of Lok Sabha election 2019. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, BJP lawmaker Hema Malini, Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Kanimozhi, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah are among the prominent candidates for Phase 2 Lok Sabha election 2019.