Phase 2 turnout higher than 2019 in Maharashtra, Karnataka & Chhattisgarh

NEW DELHI: Voter turnout in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election reached 66.7%, as of Saturday evening, for 88 constituencies that went to the polls. There’s possibility of a slight increase as the Election Commission receives more reports from states.The turnout until late Friday night was approximately 64.7%.
The overall turnout was 69.4% in 2019 in 81 of these seats.The 2019 data does not include five seats in Assam and one seat in J&K that were delimited, as well as Outer Manipur where voting was done in 15 assembly segments in the first phase.
The updated data on the EC’s Voter Turnout app on Saturday evening showed that voting percentage in seats in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, where polls were held on Friday, increased compared to 2019. Maximum dip was recorded in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
A comparison of voter turnout data shows that in three seats in Chhattisgarh — Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon — the overall voting percentage this year is around 76.2% compared to 75% in 2019. In Karnataka, overall voting percentage for 14 seats increased to 69.6% against 68.8% in the previous general elections. Higher voting was recorded in 10 of the 14 constituencies, including Bangalore Rural, Hassan, Mysore and Chitradurga. Eight seats in Maharashtra saw minor increase in voting percentage.
All other states and UTs recorded lower turnout. Six seats in Madhya Pradesh recorded 58.6% voting on Friday compared to 67.6% in the last general elections. For eight parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh, the overall voting percentage stood at 55.2% as against 62.1% in 2019. Kerala also saw less turnout with 71.3% of the electorate exercising their franchise compared to 77.7% in the last Lok Sabha polls.
As per the latest data, one parliamentary seat each in Assam and Rajasthan; and out of the eight constituencies that went to polls in Maharashtra, three — Wardha, Yavatmal-Wasim and Akola — registered higher voter turnout this time. All LS segments in Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, J&K, Tripura and Manipur where voting was held saw lower turnout this year.