India's massive election faces heatwave in penultimate phase
Published: 06:05 PM,May 25,2024 | EDITED : 10:05 PM,May 25,2024
Voters stand in lines as a policeman stands guard at a polling station, in New Delhi. — Reuters
NEW DELHI: Indian voters braved temperatures of nearly 45 degrees Celsius in parts of the country as they headed to polling stations in the penultimate phase of the world's largest election on Saturday.
More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and federal territories are eligible to vote in the general election's sixth phase, which recorded turnout of 49.2% at 3 p.m., with three hours of polling left. The overall turnout in the same phase of the last election in 2019 was about 63%.
Among those casting their ballots early on Saturday in the capital New Delhi were Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party and the main competitor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win a third consecutive term. Voting in the elections began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with results due on June 4.
Paramedics were on hand with oral hydration salts at polling stations in Delhi, where mist machines, shaded waiting areas and cold water dispensers have also been installed by the Election Commission due to concerns about the heat.
'We hope that people will overcome the fear of the heatwave and come and vote,' Delhi Chief Electoral Officer P. Krishnamurthy said.
Modi also urged people to 'vote in large numbers' in a message on social media platform X on Saturday.
The temperature in the capital hovered around 42C but felt like 49C at 2 p.m., the weather department said, prompting many voters to question why polls were not held when the weather was 'more conducive'.
At a school in the Trilokpuri area that was being used for polling, sheets and tarpaulin were strung up in the courtyard to provide shade to voters queuing up despite the heat.
'If we sit at home saying it is hot outside, who will vote?' said housewife Bhuwneshwari Pillai, 32, fanning herself with a sheet of paper and mopping her brow with a towel.
In some parts of the northern state of Haryana, people living near polling booths also pitched in to help voters beat the heat, handing out free cold drinks and dried fruits. — Reuters
More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and federal territories are eligible to vote in the general election's sixth phase, which recorded turnout of 49.2% at 3 p.m., with three hours of polling left. The overall turnout in the same phase of the last election in 2019 was about 63%.
Among those casting their ballots early on Saturday in the capital New Delhi were Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party and the main competitor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win a third consecutive term. Voting in the elections began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with results due on June 4.
Paramedics were on hand with oral hydration salts at polling stations in Delhi, where mist machines, shaded waiting areas and cold water dispensers have also been installed by the Election Commission due to concerns about the heat.
'We hope that people will overcome the fear of the heatwave and come and vote,' Delhi Chief Electoral Officer P. Krishnamurthy said.
Modi also urged people to 'vote in large numbers' in a message on social media platform X on Saturday.
The temperature in the capital hovered around 42C but felt like 49C at 2 p.m., the weather department said, prompting many voters to question why polls were not held when the weather was 'more conducive'.
At a school in the Trilokpuri area that was being used for polling, sheets and tarpaulin were strung up in the courtyard to provide shade to voters queuing up despite the heat.
'If we sit at home saying it is hot outside, who will vote?' said housewife Bhuwneshwari Pillai, 32, fanning herself with a sheet of paper and mopping her brow with a towel.
In some parts of the northern state of Haryana, people living near polling booths also pitched in to help voters beat the heat, handing out free cold drinks and dried fruits. — Reuters