Exercising their right: Women holding up their identity cards as they stand in a queue to cast ballots in the second round of voting in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh. — AP
The country’s six-week election juggernaut resumed with millions of people lining up outside polling stations in parts of the country hit by a scorching heatwave.
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% from the last 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 yesterday 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 40ºC.
India’s weather bureau said on Thursday that severe heatwave conditions would continue in several states through the weekend.
That includes parts of the eastern state of Bihar, where five districts voted yesterday and where temperatures more than 5.1ºC above the seasonal average were recorded this week.
Karnataka state in the south and parts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and heartland of the Hindu faith, are also scheduled to vote while facing heatwave conditions.
Earlier this week, India’s election commission said it had formed a task force to review the impact of heatwaves and humidity before each round of voting.
The Hindu newspaper suggested the decision could have been taken out of concerns that the intense heat “might have resulted in a dip in voter turnout”.
In a Monday statement, the commission said it had “no major concern” about the impact of hot temperatures on yesterday’s vote.
But it added that it had been closely monitoring weather reports and would ensure “the comfort and well-being of voters along with polling personnel”.
More than 968 million people are eligible to take part in India’s election, with the final round of voting on June 1 and results expected three days later. — AFP
