India Election: Millions queue up to vote in 2nd phase

Millions of Indians queued up before polling booths as polling for the second of the seven-phase elections to India's Lok Sabha began today.

Covering 88 constituencies spread across 12 states and the union territory Jammu and Kashmir, 1,202 candidates, including prominent faces such as opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, parliament speaker and BJP leader Om Birla are looking to retain their seats, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Amidst the soaring heat and humidity, the voting started at 7:00am (local time) and will end at 6:00pm.

At least 158.8 million (15.88 crore) people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase.

Keeping in mind the heat wave sweeping many parts of India, the Election Commission has extended voting time in several polling stations of four constituencies in the eastern state of Bihar.

The remaining five phases of the polls will continue till June 1 before votes are counted on June 4 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third successive tenure in office. A victory will see him equaling the record of three terms of India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

More than 16 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 1.67 lakh polling stations, said the Election Commission.

Voters in the second phase include 8.08 crore male, 7.8 crore female and 5,929 third gender electors. As many as 34.8 lakh first-time voters are registered to cast their votes. Also, there are 3.28 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years, the EC said.

Awareness for voters and facilitation measures have been further geared up for higher turnout in the second phase of polling after the turnout of just over 65 per cent in the first phase held on April 19 fell by more than three per cent compared to the corresponding phase in the previous parliamentary elections five years ago.

Modi took to X, formerly Twitter, early this morning to urge voters in the second phase to participate in record numbers.

He said a high voter turnout "strengthens our democracy." He especially urged young and women voters to turn up in great numbers saying "your vote is your voice."

Of the 1,202 candidates in fray in the second phase, of whom 1,098 are men, 102 are women, and two are from the third gender category.

At least three helicopters, four special trains, and nearly 80,000 vehicles have been deployed to ferry polls and security personnel. Webcasting will be done in more than 50 percent of the polling stations.

Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, BJP's actress-turned-politician Hema Malini, Om Birla, the Speaker of outgoing Lok Sabha, are seeking hat-trick wins from their respective constituencies of Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), and Kota (Rajasthan).