Lok Sabha Elections 2024 LIVE | People Want NDA Government: N Chandrababu Naidu to Republic

The second phase of Lok Sabha polls on Friday saw nearly 61 per cent turnout till 7 pm with polling now complete in 14 states and union territories.

The polling was peaceful and 102 villages in Bastar division witnessed polling in Lok Sabha for the first time.

The voting in the second phase of general elections 2024 commenced at 7 am today across 88 constituencies in 13 states and union territories.

Voters enthusiastically participated to cast their vote at their polling stations braving the hot weather conditions.

The Election Commission of India said that a turnout of 60.96 per cent was recorded till 7 pm. (With inputs from ANI) 
 

Congress suspended Ameen Khan, former MLA, Sheo Assembly, and Balendu Singh Shekhawat, former Secretary of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee from the party for 6 years with immediate effect after complaints of indiscipline & anti-party activities.

In the second phase of polling on Friday, a voter turnout of 73.05 percent was recorded in three Lok Sabha constituencies of Chhattisgarh having Maoist presence.

A jawan from the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Force (MPSAF) deployed on poll duty allegedly died by suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at a government school in Gariaband where he was stationed.

The Congress on Friday named candidates for the bypolls on three of the seats that fell vacant after the disqualification of six party rebels from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly this February. The candidate list includes two turncoats - Captain Ranjit Singh from Sujanpur and Rakesh Kalia from Gagret - both of who recently quit the BJP after the party did not name them as candidates for the bypolls. Congress leader Vivek Sharma has been declared as the party candidate from Kutlehar assembly constituency.

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"People want an NDA government. We are confident of achieving it. Now, the NDA needs 400-plus seats, and I am confident, we will achieve it," said N Chandrababu Naidu, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and chief of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Naidu was speaking to Republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in an exclusive conversation. “I am a strong believer of India as a global power. It has happened under PM Modi's leadership,” he said.

"This election is about fulfilling the resolve of Viksit Bharat under PM Modi's leadership," said BJP national president JP Nadda.

The Pichda, Dalit and Musalman aka PDM Nyay Morcha announces four candidates for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Here are the names:

Jammu and Kashmir saw 67.22 percent voter turnout for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 until till 5 pm today.

Just in: Waris Punjab De chief and separatist Amritpal Singh will contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 as an independent candidate from Khadoor Sahib. Balwinder Kaur, mother of Amritpal Singh, confirmed the development. Amritpal Singh is currently in jail in Assam under the National Security Act, 1980.

Over 60 percent voter turnout was recorded in 13 states and Union Territories of India until 5 pm in Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

While Tripura witnessed the highest voter turnout, Maharashtra saw the lowest number of voters until 1 pm.

More than 600 voters of a remote tribal village in Dhalai, a part of Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, abstained from voting on April 26 due to the bad condition of a village road, an election official said.

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Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said it will be a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP on nine Lok Sabha seats in the state. "All sections of society are supporting the Congress and we have a good set of candidates," he said.

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Over 35 percent voting recorded until 1 pm in eight constituencies of Noida, Uttar Pradesh on April 26. 

Given the polling in Kerala, two instances of fake voting have been reported in the Ernakulam constituency, as per media reports.

A female voter from Ernakulam constituency alleged that a fake ballot was cast in her name during the general elections voting. She claimed that the fake vote in her name was cast before 10:30 am.

Meanwhile, a 66-year-old woman also complained that her vote was registered an hour before she arrived at a booth in Thiruvananthapuram.
 

Kerala as of 1 pm recorded 38.01 per cent voter turnout in the second phase of Lok Sabha Elections.

In Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram recorded 37.20 per cent, Kozhikode- 36.87 per cent, Palakkad- 39.71 per cent and Wayanad- 38.85 per cent.

Given the voting for phase 2, Kerala's Thrissur as of 1:10 pm recorded voter turnout at 40.05 per cent. The constituency sees a three-way fight between NDA’s Suresh Gopi, UDF’s K Muraleedharan and LDF’s V S Sunilkumar.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar cast his vote in Kanakapura. 

As Tripura goes to poll today, voters of the Raima Valley Assembly segment in a remote area of the Dhalai district, used boats to arrive at their respective polling booths to exercise their fundamental duty of vote.

Meanwhile, Several senior citizens were assisted with wheelchairs by polling at various polling booths in Ghaziabad. 

Assam Minister and BJP leader Pijush Hazarika after casting his vote in Nagaon launched a sharp attack the Congress asserting that all their allegations are baseless and by doing so, the party shows its character.

"Whenever Congress wins, then there is no discussion of EVM and VVPAT... When they won in Himachal Pradesh, did they oppose EVMs... Whenever the opposition (Congress) loses, they blame the EVMs. All these allegations are baseless. It is just their character... I hope we will win more than 400 seats. PM Narendra Modi will be the PM for the 3rd time... The BJP has done the work in the nation. They have increased the number of airports, highways, medical colleges, etc. That's why people support PM Modi."

Former Karnataka CM and JDS candidate HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya seat Lok Sabha along with his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy cast their vote at a polling booth in Ramanagara. Talking to the media, Kumaraswamy asserted, “We (BJP-JDS alliance) are going to win all the 14 seats.”

Senior Congress leader AK Antony cast his vote at a polling station in Thiruvananthapuram. His son, Anil Antony is contesting from Pathanamthitta as a BJP candidate in the General elections.

In India's general elections, film actor and producer Tovino Thomas casts his vote at a polling booth in Iringalakuda, Thrissur.

Thomas is also the state brand ambassador for the Election Commission's SWEEP (Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation) programme.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, "Karnataka is going to poll; the state is giving very big results and people are very happy as whatever we said in the last elections we have delivered...Women are cutting across the party line, all of them are favouring us and I thank all of them...For the first-time voters- the youth of this country, I have to say that Congress has put up a beautiful manifesto...You have to make a change as it is needed, you have given 10 years and now let's go for a change."

Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaia casted his vote at a polling booth in Siddaramana Hundi village of Chamarajanagar. After coming out of the poling booth he showed hs inked finger to the media. 

Former PM and JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda casts his vote at a polling booth in Hassan. Taking a sharp swipe at Congress, Gowda said, “Congress has stopped to this level, having the photo of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge making promise...This is with the photo of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. ”

He furthermore questioned if Rahul Gandhi and Kharge if they are the Prime Minister. 

"Is Kharge Chief Minister or Prime Minister? They are only ordinary members of Congress. This is a pamphlet distributed in Karnataka just to mislead and fool the people..."

Former cricketer Anil Kumble casts his vote in Karnataka.

 An FIR has been registered against BJP candidate K Sudhakar for alleged bribery and undue influence on the electorate. Cash worth Rs 4.8 crores was also seized, the Election Commission said on Friday, PTI reported. 

Taking to X, Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer on Friday said the FST of Chikkaballapura seized cash worth 4.8 crores.

An FIR also has been registered by the state surveillance team of Chikkaballapura Constituency against K Sudhakar, BJP candidate on April 25 at Madanayakanahally police station.

The FIR is registered under relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act and of the IPC for bribery and undue influence on electors, the Chief said.

Given the voting for Lok Sabha elections phase 2, Karnataka's Home Minister G Parameshwara casts his vote.

Until 9 am, Kerala recorded 11.98 per cent voter turnout, while Karnataka recorded 9.21 per cent.

Furthermore, Maharashtra recorded the lowest with 7.45 per cent, however, Tripura recorded the highest with 16.65 per cent until 9 am. 

As voting is underway in Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya said, "Today is a celebration day in Karnataka. it is a festival of democracy. Millions of people will go out and vote... This is not just a right, but also a duty, because if we don't vote, we are not registering our voice, and contributing meaningfully to a democracy. Just like every year, more senior citizens are seen at the booths, they are coming out in big numbers to vote."

He further urged young people to draw inspiration from senior citizens and also come out in big numbers.

"Survey after survey shows that it may not win more than 30 seats... The more personal attacks and baseless allegations they make against the PM, history has shown that the Prime Minister has only gotten stronger and the BJP has only gotten popular... The fact that Mallikarjun Kharge wants to meet the Prime Minister to explain his party manifesto indicates that perhaps even the Congress realises that it will be the PM who will implement some good ideas that may be present in the Congress manifesto... Perhaps this is the admission of Congress that they are not coming anywhere near power for the next two decades."

As polling is underway for 88 seats, K Surendran BJP Kerala state president and Wayanad candidate casts his vote in Kozhikode.  
 

Congress Candidate from Kerala's Alappuzha constituency, KC Venugopal says, "I am confident that the people of Alleppey will stand with me. After phase one of the Lok Sabha elections, the PM is panicking. I thank the PM for bringing the Congress manifesto into the public domain in a big way. In Kerala, UDF will sweep all 20 seats People of Wayanad, Kerala will show that they are with Rahul Gandhi ."
 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan casts his vote at polling station number 161 in Kannur.

In the second phase, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman casts her vote at the BES polling booth in Bengaluru.

South Indian actor Prakash Raj on Friday, April 26, Prakash Raj casts vote in Karnataka's Bengaluru.

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and his wife author and philanthropist Sudha Murty cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections in Bengaluru.

Narayana said, "Once in every five years, we get an opportunity to execute the right given by our constitution, to choose whatever candidate from whichever party he/she is, to govern us. Today is a very happy day. Today is the day when we should all be enthusiastic to exercise our power."

Meanwhile, Sudha said, “I want to tell everyone- don't sit at home, come out and vote, choose your leader. I always feel that urban people vote less as compared to those in rural areas. I request youngsters to come out and vote.”

Union Minister and NDA candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "Since the last 15-20 years, there has been very little progress in Thiruvananthapuram and in the lives of many people who are suffering from many problems that have not been solved...I request all of you to come out and vote today. This is an important day, not just for democracy, but for the future of Thiruvananthapuram and the future of your own families and children. It is something that we all must take seriously. Voting is a fundamental duty of every citizen and I hope everybody comes out and votes for change."

Suresh Gopi, an NDA candidate from Thrissur, casts his vote with other voters who begin to queue at a polling station as voting begins.

As voting is underway for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls for 14 seats in Karnataka today, a total of 247 candidates -- 226 men and 21 women -- are in the fray covering most of the southern and coastal districts.

Over 2.88 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 30,602 polling stations.

The Congress and BJP are locking horns on the electoral battleground again after last year's Assembly elections.

In the first phase, while the Congress is contesting in all 14 seats, BJP has fielded candidates in 11 and its alliance partner JD(S), which joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September last year, in three -- Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.

Besides the three constituencies, the segments where elections are being held are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and Chikkballapur.

Voting for the second phase in Kerala is held in: Kasaragod, Kannur, Vadakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alathur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram