- 26 Apr 2024 - 13:00(13:00 GMT)
That’s a wrap from us
This live page is now closed. Thank you for joining us.
To read more about the second phase of India’s mammoth national election, you can access our explainer here. The third phase of India’s multiphase election will be on May 7.
Please check our India election page for all the latest news.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 12:45(12:45 GMT)
Here’s what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s events:
- BJP parliamentarian Tejasvi Surya has an election-related case filed against him, the chief electoral officer of Karnataka says. He is accused of posting a video on X social media platform, in which he is seen praying before Hindu gods, when the vote was under way.
- India’s Supreme Court has declined to order any change to the vote-counting process in the ongoing national election, rejecting petitions to tally all paper slips generated as proof of voting for votes recorded by electronic voting machines.
- Voting was halted in Indiganatta village in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district after clashes broke out between two groups at a polling station, India’s NDTV network reports.
- As of 3pm local time (09:30 GMT), the northeastern state of Tripura continued to lead with the highest voter turnout at 68.48 percent, India’s ANI news agency reported.
- Prime Minister Modi says people should come out to vote in record numbers to strengthen democracy.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 12:30(12:30 GMT)
BJP candidate charged with soliciting votes on religious grounds
An election-related case has been filed against BJP parliamentarian Tejasvi Surya, who is seeking re-election from Bengaluru South, the chief electoral officer in Karnataka state says.
Surya, 33, is accused of posting a video on X in which he is seen praying before Hindu gods as voting was under way.
He has been charged with soliciting votes on the grounds of religion, the electoral officer said.
Case is booked against Tejasvi Surya MP and Candidate of Bengaluru South PC on 25.04.24 at Jayanagar PS u/s 123(3) for posting a video in X handle and soliciting votes on the ground of religion.
— Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (@ceo_karnataka) April 26, 2024
Advertisement - 26 Apr 2024 - 12:15(12:15 GMT)
Polling stopped in Karnataka village: Report
Voting has been halted in Indiganatta village in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district after clashes broke out between two groups at a polling station, India’s NDTV network reports.
A few people suffered minor injuries in the clash, the report said. More details are awaited.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 12:00(12:00 GMT)
Voter turnout till 3pm
As of 3pm local time (09:30 GMT), the northeastern state of Tripura continued to lead with the highest voter turnout at 68.48 percent, India’s ANI news agency reported.
Maharashtra, India’s richest state, was in last place with 43.01 percent turnout.
Voter turnout till 3 pm for phase 2 of #LokasabhaElection2024
Assam 60.32%
Bihar 44.24%
Chhattisgarh 63.32%
Jammu And Kashmir 57.76%
Karnataka 50.93%
Kerala 51.64%
Madhya Pradesh 46.50%
Maharashtra 43.01%
Manipur 68.48%
Rajasthan 50.27%
Tripura 68.92%… pic.twitter.com/7hZEJ4AlJ3— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2024
- 26 Apr 2024 - 11:45(11:45 GMT)
Analyst says BJP likely to win but ‘joyous surge missing’
Voters’ relative apathy has surprised some political observers, but they say the BJP remains a frontrunner.
“You could argue that the listlessness is a consequence of a foregone conclusion,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a prominent political scientist and columnist.
“But for Modi’s party which is expecting to win 400 of the 543 seats, the joyous surge is missing,” he said in an article in the Indian Express newspaper.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 11:30(11:30 GMT)
Why Kerala isn’t buying Modi claim of ‘double-digit’ BJP win
Kerala is the only major Indian state where the BJP has never won a national seat, though it has seen a steady rise in its voter support, from 1.75 percent in 1984 to 13 percent in 2019.
During an election rally in February, Modi said: “In 2019, Kerala gave a two-digit vote share to the BJP. This time, the party would win double-digit seats from Kerala,” he said.
There is little evidence to suggest such broad support for the BJP in a state dominated by two coalitions for decades – the United Democratic Front (UDF), headed by the Congress party, and the communist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). In 2019, the UDF won 19 of 20 seats, with the LDF winning one. In 2014, the UDF bagged 12, while the remaining eight went to the LDF. In the state, the LDF is currently in power.
Opinion polls indicate the BJP could face a wipeout, with anti-BJP parties winning all of its 20 seats that are up for grabs in Friday’s voting.
Officials arrange for drinking water at a polling station during the second phase of voting in India’s general election in Wayanad district of Kerala [R Satish Babu/AFP] - 26 Apr 2024 - 11:15(11:15 GMT)
Photos: Voters head to polling stations in Uttar Pradesh state
Voters wait to cast to cast their ballot at a polling station in Meerut [Arun Sankar/AFP] 
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in the city of Ghaziabad [Sajjad Hussain/AFP] 
Voters wait outside a polling station to cast their ballot in Meerut [Arun Sankar/AFP] - 26 Apr 2024 - 11:00(11:00 GMT)
Calls for mosque demolition weigh on Muslim voters
Muslim teacher Tasleem Qureshi’s walk to the voting booth on Friday took her past the yellow barricades and police cordon guarding her local mosque – a looming flashpoint in India’s religious divide.
Her hometown Mathura in northern Uttar Pradesh state is the site of the Shahi Idgah, a Muslim house of worship that Hindu right-wing groups claim was built over the birthplace of the deity, Krishna. The Hindu groups want to “reclaim” the site in a campaign endorsed by members of Modi’s BJP.
“The BJP keeps saying that the Shahi Idgah will cease to exist after the elections,” Qureshi, 48, told AFP news agency.
“We will not let that happen and we will protect it with our lives,” she said.
Advertisement - 26 Apr 2024 - 10:45(10:45 GMT)
Who are the key candidates in Phase 2?
In total, there are 1,202 candidates competing for the 88 seats up for grabs in Friday’s polling. Among them are a number of prominent names, both from the ruling BJP and the opposition, including:
- Rahul Gandhi: The scion of India’s most famous political dynasty is aiming to retain the Wayanad seat in the southern Kerala state that he won in 2019.
- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: A minister in Modi’s government, the BJP candidate is looking to secure a seat in Jodhpur, Rajasthan for a third time, facing off against Karan Singh Uchiyarda of the Congress.
- Rajeev Chandrasekhar: India’s junior information technology minister is contesting from Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram. where his main opponent is senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is seeking re-election for a fourth consecutive term.
- Bhupesh Baghel: The Congress leader and former chief minister of Chhattisgarh is running for the state’s Rajnandgaon seat, competing against the BJP’s Santosh Pandey.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 10:30(10:30 GMT)
WATCH: Why India’s election is such a big deal
India is holding the world’s biggest election. Some 970 million voters will cast their ballots over seven phases of voting that started on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with the vote count to be held on June 4.
Start Here with Sandra Gathmann explains how the mammoth seven-phase election works.
Watch the video below:
- 26 Apr 2024 - 10:15(10:15 GMT)
Anti-CAA sentiment ‘not a strong force’ in Assam
Author Abhishek Saha says while the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a significant consideration for many people in the northeastern state, it was no longer a “political force” it once used to be to take on the ruling BJP.
“I think the reason behind that lies in the fact that the kind of arguments that were used in the rest of India post the CAA was kind of divisive and threatened the secular fabric of the country,” Saha, author of the book called No Land’s People, told Al Jazeera.
“But in a sense, it was essentially the Assamese nationalist sociopolitical groups when leading the protests saying that it was not the exclusion of Muslims they were protesting. They were protesting why even a Hindu Bangladeshi was not allowed to be given shelter here.
“Today, journalists have been recording that Hindutva [Hindu supremacist] politics has overwritten Assamese nationalist political sentiments,” Saha added. “And probably because of that today, the anti-CAA kind of is not a strong enough political force to oppose the BJP.”
- 26 Apr 2024 - 10:00(10:00 GMT)
WATCH: India’s citizenship law polarising Assam voters
The issue of citizenship is critical in the constituencies voting in the northeastern state of Assam, where more than one-third of residents are Muslim.
Watch our report below:
- 26 Apr 2024 - 09:45(09:45 GMT)
‘Disinterest among some BJP voters’
Explaining low voter turnout, political analyst and Modi’s biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay says perceptions of the vote as a foregone conclusion may have dampened the voters’ enthusiasm.
“There is some disinterest among some BJP voters,” he told AFP news agency, “because when they hear the leadership say ‘we will get 400 seats’ they think, why slug it out in the heat?”
A man shows the indelible ink mark on his index finger after casting his vote in Morigaon district, about 77km (48 miles) from Guwahati, Assam state [Anupam Nath/AP] - 26 Apr 2024 - 09:30(09:30 GMT)
If you’re just joining us
It’s 3pm (09:30 GMT) in India, with about three more hours of polling to go. Here are some of the latest developments:
- India’s Supreme Court has declined to order any change to the vote-counting process in the ongoing national election, rejecting petitions to tally all paper slips generated as proof of voting for votes recorded by electronic voting machines.
- As of 1pm (07:30 GMT), the northeastern state of Tripura had the highest voter turnout, while the western state of Maharashtra had the lowest.
- India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has urged people to vote, saying their ballot will decide whether “the next government will be of ‘a few billionaires’ or ‘140 crore [1.4 billion] Indians’”.
- Prime Minister Modi says people should come out to vote in record numbers to strengthen democracy.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 09:15(09:15 GMT)
Will Modi’s BJP win 400 seats? The south holds the answer
In the early part of his election campaign, Modi announced a target for his ruling BJP-led alliance that is ambitious even by the standards of his successful coalition.
“Abki baar 400 paar,” Modi declared, claiming that the National Democratic Alliance, the ruling group of parties, would cross the 400-seat mark in a house of 543 parliamentary seats, with the BJP alone winning 370.
Only once in India’s 77 years as an independent nation has any party or alliance won more than 400 seats: the now-in-opposition Congress party in 1984, in the aftermath of the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi.
Read more here.
- 26 Apr 2024 - 09:00(09:00 GMT)
Voter turnout till 1pm
As of 1pm (07:30 GMT), voter turnout in the northeastern state of Tripura was still the highest at 54.47 percent, according to India’s ANI news agency.
However, it was the lowest in the western Maharashtra state, with some 32 percent of people casting their ballots, while Bihar was at 34 percent.
Voter turnout till 1 pm for phase 2 of #LokSabhaElections2024
Assam 46.31%
Bihar 33.80%
Chhattisgarh 53.09%
Jammu And Kashmir 42.88%
Karnataka 38.23%
Kerala 39.26%
Madhya Pradesh 38.96%
Maharashtra 31.77%
Manipur 54.26%
Rajasthan 40.39%
Tripura 54.47%
Uttar Pradesh… pic.twitter.com/9Xw5SUf7IB— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2024
Advertisement - 26 Apr 2024 - 08:45(08:45 GMT)
‘When will our good days come?’ The Mumbai cook strapped for cash
Manisha Santosh Kadam, 42, came to Mumbai from her village near Manchar, about three and a half hours away, 12 years ago with high hopes.
Manisha and her husband are Marathas – a group of castes comprising farmers, warriors and some landowners, which have been a dominant community in the western state of Maharashtra.
“Like many who come to this bustling city to fulfil their dreams, I also came with the hope that Mumbai will be a nice place to work, earn a livelihood and send my children to school,” she says.
But Manisha feels the government hasn’t really helped their community – nor other poorer communities in the country.
“Throughout the pandemic and economic downfalls, all the political leaders kept promising aid packages to help us. But their national economic policies remain catered to aid the rich,” she says.
“[We’re] hearing big money pledges once again and announcements saying ‘acche din aayenge’ [a slogan used by Modi’s party during elections which says good days are coming],” Manisha said.
“But when will our ‘acche din’ [good days] come?”
Read her complete story here.
Manisha at work as a cook in a household in Mumbai [Courtesy of Manisha Santosh Kadam] - 26 Apr 2024 - 08:35(08:35 GMT)
Photos: Voters head to polls in southern India
People stand in lines as they wait to cast their votes at a polling station in Eramalloor village, in the southern state of Kerala [Sivaram V/Reuters] 
Staff at a restaurant, which is serving dosas free of charge to people who cast their votes in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka state [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] 
A woman smiles as she speaks with an election official at a polling station in Bengaluru [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] 
A man leaves after casting his vote inside a polling station in Kerala [Sivaram V/Reuters] - 26 Apr 2024 - 08:25(08:25 GMT)
WATCH: Will India’s election be free and fair?
As India votes in the second phase of the election and Modi seeks a third term, opponents say repression and sectarianism have increased under his leadership.
So, what are the issues, and will the election be free and fair?
Watch the discussion in the Inside Story episode below:
Guests:
- Mohan Krishna – spokesperson for the governing Bharatiya Janata Party
- Arshpreet Khadial – chief Spokesperson for the opposition Indian National Congress
- Sravasti Dasgupta – reporter for The Wire specialising in Indian politics
India election 2024 updates: Eyes on the south as Modi seeks Lok Sabha win
Kerala and Karnataka in focus as 88 constituencies across 13 states and one union territory go to the polls.
India’s election explained | Start Here
Published On 26 Apr 2024
This live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of India’s election here.
- Polls have closed in the second of the seven-phase Indian elections with 13 states voting for 88 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament.
- The first phase of the vote was held on April 19 in 102 constituencies across 21 states and union territories.
- The elections primarily pit the National Democratic Alliance, led by two-time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), against the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, spearheaded by the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress.
- Voters will elect representatives to fill 543 seats of the Lok Sabha. The party or coalition that secures a majority will form the next government.
- About 969 million registered voters are eligible to participate in the world’s largest democratic exercise over six weeks. The results will be announced on June 4.
