NEW DELHI (AP) – Millions of Indians voted on Friday in a moderate turnout in the second round of multi-phase national elections.
People lined-up outside polling stations as voting opened at 7am and braved hot summer weather with temperatures soaring up to 42 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
The election authority said in a statement that approximately 60.96 per cent of 160 million eligible voters exercised their right to cast a ballot in the second round. The outcome of Friday’s voting will be crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the 88 constituencies up for grabs across 13 states include some of its strongholds in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Most polls predict a win for Modi and the BJP, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is running in Wayanad constituency in southern Kerala state for a second time, after he was defeated in 2019 elections by BJP leader Smriti Irani in the northern Indian city of Amethi – a traditional stronghold for the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Other prominent candidates in the second phase of voting include Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party, popular BJP Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Arun Govil. Prime Minister Modi urged people to vote in record numbers to strengthen democracy. “I especially urge our young voters and women voters to turn out in great numbers. Your vote is your voice!” Modi said in a message on the social media platform X.
Nearly 970 million voters – more than 10 per cent of the world’s population – will elect 543 members to the Lower House of Parliament for five years during the staggered election, which runs until June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4. There are a total of 28 states in India. The turnout in the first phase of polling on April 19 was estimated at around 62 per cent of 166.3 million eligible voters. By comparison, India’s 2019 national election registered the highest-ever voter turnout – 67.11 per cent – in the history of Indian Parliamentary elections. The turnout is expected to increase for five more rounds of voting.
Voters’ relative apathy has surprised some political analysts, but they said that the BJP remains a front-runner. “You could argue that the listlessness is a consequence of a foregone conclusion,” said Indian political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
