DARRANGA (India): Voters stand in a queue to cast their ballot outside a polling station during the second phase of voting for the India's general election at Gashbari village in Darrang district of Assam state on Friday. — AFP Amid intense heat conditions in several states, a voter turnout of 61 per cent was recorded in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in India on Friday, report agencies.
Tripura led with the highest voting percentage at 77.53 per cent, while Uttar Pradesh is now at the bottom with the lowest voter turnout at 52.74 per cent.
Polling held in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh (Congress), and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) are among the key candidates while BJP's Hema Malini, Om Birla and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.
In the first phase, polling was held in 102 seats on April 19. The voter turnout was recorded at 62.37 per cent, which may still be revised upwards as votes are tallied.
Due to intense heat, polling hours have been extended until 6 pm in several stations across Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger constituencies in Bihar to accommodate voters.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to win a third term in the election, which concludes in early June.
But turnout in the first round of voting last week dropped nearly four points to 66 percent from the previous election in 2019, with speculation in Indian media outlets that higher-than-average temperatures were to blame.
Modi took to social media shortly before polls re-opened to urge those voting to turn out in "record numbers" despite the heat.
"A high voter turnout strengthens our democracy," he wrote on social media platform X. "Your vote is your voice!"
The second round of the poll -- conducted in phases to ease the immense logistical burden of staging an election in the world's most populous country -- includes districts that have this week seen temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
India's weather bureau said Thursday that severe heatwave conditions would continue in several states through the weekend.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
