12.55 percent of votes polled in Tamil Nadu in the first two hours.
Kallkurichi constituency leads with 15.10%
Chennai Central constituency is the lowest with 8.59 %
"I am very confident that the DMK alliance—India—will win on all 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Thoothukudi is one of them. The fight is between DMK and AIADMK," says DMK candidate Kanimozhi from Thoothukudi after casting her vote at a polling booth in Chennai.
The voter turnout in Madhya Pradesh till 9 am in the first phase of the Lok Sabah election 2024 stands at 14.12 percent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers as the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls started with polling being held in 102 constituencies.
He especially called upon the young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers.
As polling began in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged voters to strengthen democracy and open 'Mohabbat ki Dukaan' in every corner of the country by defeating hatred.
"Go out and strengthen democracy by applying the balm of your vote on the wounds inflicted on the soul of the country in the last 10 years," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on 'X'.
Women voters dressed in traditional attire to cast vote in Uttarakhand, known as 'Pichhoda', make their way to the polling booth in Tadikhet, Betalghat, located in the Almora district of Uttarakhand.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to cast their ballots carefully and asserted that a new era of economic empowerment and equal opportunities beckons them.
"The fight to protect our Constitution and Democracy begins today," he said in a post on 'X'.
"My dear citizens, from 21 States and UTs who are voting in the First Phase of the Lok Sabha elections, I request that you carefully cast your vote. A future where NYAY (justice) awaits you. A new era of Economic Empowerment and Equal Opportunities beckons you," the Congress chief said.
"We are celebrating the festival of democracy today. Everyone should vote; this is our fundamental right as well as duty. You can vote for anyone but casting your vote is important.I am 101% sure that I will win by a good margin," said Union Minister and BJP candidate from Nagpur, Nitin Gadkari.
A newlywed couple arrived at a polling booth this morning, straight from their wedding, in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district to cast their vote for the Lok Sabha elections.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju cast their votes on Friday at their native villages as the polling for two Lok Sabha seats and 50 assembly constituencies is underway, officials said.
Rijiju cast his vote in his village, Nafra, in the newly created Bichom district, while Khandu exercised his franchise in the Mukto constituency in Tawang district, the officials said.
A 102-year-old centenarian Chinnammal cast her vote in Ramalingapatti polling booth in Rettiyarchatiram.
DMK Chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday cast his vote in Chennai.
Congress MP and candidate from Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, Gaurav Gogoi on, cast his vote at a polling booth in Jorhat.
The official X handle of TMC posted, “BJP has turned the festival of democracy into the MURDER of democracy.
Our BLAs were viciously attacked by BJP goons in booth 226 and 227 of Barokodali GP, Alipurduar.
Central Forces stood idly by and watched them unleash violence. We have been attracting EC's attention to the BJP's criminal underbelly but alas, they refused to act. And now our workers are having to bear the brunt of their inaction!”
Actor Rajnikanth today casts his vote at a polling booth in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and party's Tamil Nadu chief, K Annamalai, cast his vote for the elections today. K Annamalai is BJP's candidate from Coimbatore.
As voting in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections began across the country, former Madhya Pradesh CM and congress leader Kamal Nath said, "I have full faith in the people of Chhindwara. I have full hope that they will stand by the truth."
His son and Congress leader, Nakul Nath is contesting from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and the two Lok Sabha MPs of the state, who are also candidates, cast their votes early in the morning on Friday.
"I reached the booth at 6. 30 hoping to vote first. But I was pleasantly surprised that there were many people before me. It is a healthy trend. Voting is a right of every citizen," said the chief minister who drove himself to reach the polling station.
Polling is underway for the Lok Sabha elections to Inner Manipur and parts of Outer Manipur seats, amid tight security arrangements.
Voting began at 7 am in 2,107 polling stations.
As many as 18,091 internally displaced people will exercise their franchise across 85 special polling stations. In view of the elections, security has been tightened in the ethnic violence-hit northeastern state.
It's on social media in Manipur that some armed people were creating troubles at a polling station at Keirao in the Imphal East district. They were threatening voters to not vote for a particular party.
Trouble was also reported from Khongman in the Imphal East district.
Asked about the purported troubles at Keirao, the state's Chief Electoral Officer Pradeep Kumar Jha told The New Indian Express nothing had been reported to him so far.
"We received some complaints regarding machines (EVMs) at some places. They have been taken care of by the technical teams. Polling is by and large peaceful," he said.
Polling began at 7 AM on Friday in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu for the 2024 general election, amid tight security arrangements.
People arrived at the polling stations enthusiastically and waited for their turn to vote, with personnel of the state and central police forces standing guard. Polling also began in neighbouring Puducherry where the Congress and BJP are in a direct fight.
Voting was delayed by an hour in some polling booths, such as the one near Tambaram coming under Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha segment, due to technical glitches in the electronic voting machines. Officials said they were attending to it.
EVM stuck at booth no 263 Pollachi Municipal Girls School and booth no 213 in Valparai.
Polling for the first round of Lok Sabha elections in eight constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh began at 7 am.
The seats include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has joined hands with the Rashtriya Lok Dal while the Samajwadi Party has allied with the Congress for the election. The Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to go solo.
Polling started late in several booths in Puducherry due to issues with VVPAT machines.
In Blessed mother Theresa school, polling was delayed by 50 minutes due to the non-functionality of the VVPAT machine. Only after the replacement of the machine did polling start.
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan on Friday cast his vote at a polling booth in Koyambedu, Chennai.
Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) has formed an alliance with DMK for the Lok Sabha election, but MNM has decided not to contest the elections.
Sporadic incidents of violence marred the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in the three parliamentary constituencies in Bengal, as TMC and BJP workers clashed with each other in various parts of violence-prone Cooch Behar seat.
Both the TMC and the BJP lodged 80 and 39 complaints, respectively, related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the first few hours of polling, sources from both parties said.
Most of the complaints were from Cooch Behar and Alipurduars constituencies.
According to the data released by the Election Commission of India the voter turnout in West Bengal till 11 am was recorded at 33.56%. While it was 23.72% in Tamil Nadu, 20.46% in Madhya Pradesh, 27.64% in Manipur and 25 % in Uttar Pradesh.
Indefinite shutdown in eastern Nagaland, comprising the six "backward" districts of Mon, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak, Shamator and Tuensang. Polling stations across the region wore a deserted look. Nagaland has one Lok Sabha seat.
Locals said nobody was going to vote.
The region's apex tribal organisation, the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO), had earlier called upon people to abstain from participating in the voting process. It had urged the 20 legislators from eastern Nagaland to honour the decision of the public by remaining indoors.
The state's Chief Electoral Officer has issued a show-cause notice to the ENPO president.
Various tribal organisations in eastern Nagaland had earlier reaffirmed that they would not participate in any state or central elections until the Centre grants “Frontier Nagaland Territory” as promised.
Voter turnout in Tamil Nadu reached 40.05% as of 1:00 pm.
Dharmapuri recorded the highest participation with 44.08% of votes, followed by Kallakurichi at 44%.
Chennai reported the lowest voter engagement, with the Chennai Central constituency at 32.31% and Chennai South at 33.93%.
28 constituencies registered over 40% voter turnout.
The three Lok Sabha constituencies that fall within Chennai district continue to record lowest voter turnout in the current election in comparison with other parts of the State.
Chennai Central stands last with 32.31% of votes followed by Chennai South (33.93%) and Chennai North (35.09%).
According to the electoral data, Chennai recorded lowest voter turn out in the past elections too and the Election Commission said steps are taken to improve the voter percentage this time.
The overall polling percentage in Tamil Nadu reached 51.41% as of 3 pm, with Dharmapuri boasting the highest turnout at 57.83% and Chennai Central reporting the lowest at 41.47%.
Notably, 31 constituencies logged over 50% voter participation.
In Tamil Nadu voter turnout stood at 72.09% by 7 p.m. Kallakurichi recorded the highest turnout at 75.67%, followed closely by Dharmapuri at 75.44%. A total of 33 constituencies saw voter participation exceeding 70% by 7 p.m., while Chennai Central reported the lowest turnout at 67.35%.
An aggregate 62.37 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 7 pm in phase one of the Lok Sabha polls on Friday, the Election Commission said.
A spokesperson said the figure is tentative.
Officially, polling ended at 6 pm, but voters who were in the queue by that time were allowed to exercise their franchise.
Polls took place in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.
Earlier, the commission had said that 49.78 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm.
