Amid glitches in EVMs people exercise their franchise in Lok Sabha polls

Guwahati: The second phase of Lok Sabha polls is underway in 95 seats across 11 states and Union Territories.

In the hourly hours of polling, malfunctioning in EVMs and VVPATs were reported in many parts of the country where voting for second phase is undergoing in different constituencies. Electors from Silchar in Assam complained about malfunctioning of the EVMs. In Uttar Pradesh, glitches in EVMs were reported from Agra, Mathura and Hathras.

In the second phase of election, Tamil Nadu holds the key as it will go for seven-phase election that began on April 11 and will continue till May 19.

In the second phase polls which are undergoing today in Tamil Nadu as well, 38 of 39 Lok Sabha seats are up for the grab. The Election Commission on Tuesday has cancelled the polling in Vellore as they recovered huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader recently. By-polls in 18 assembly constituencies are also taking place in Tamil Nadu.

The elections are also taking place in 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one seat each in Manipur and Puducherry. Simultaneously, voting for 35 assembly constituencies is also taking place in Odisha.

During the election process, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the voters of the country to come out in large numbers and exercise their franchise.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Dear citizens of India, phase two of the Lok Sabha polls start today. I am sure all those whose seats are polling today will strengthen our democracy by exercising their franchise. I hope more youngsters head to the polling booths and vote."

During the early hours of polls, many politicians and celebrities have cast their votes and among those are Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan and his daughter Shruti Haasan in Chennai have exercised their franchise.

Congress leader P.Chidambaram in Sivaganga and Sushil Kumar Shinde in Solapur have also exercised their franchise by casting their votes. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has cast her vote in Jaynagar in Bangalore South constituency.

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