India’s General Election: First Phase Dominated by Jobs, Hindu Pride and Modi

New Delhi: The first of India’s almost one billion voters cast ballots on Friday in the country’s multi-day election, as Prime Minister  Modi seeks a rare third term on the back of issues such as growth, welfare and Hindu nationalism.

The first phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting in 21 states and Union Territories concluded on Friday evening at 6 p.m. At the end of the voting, Prime Minister Modi posted on X –  “First phase fantastic! Thanks to all those who voted today.” 

Today’s voting clearly indicated that people across India casted their votes in record numbers for governance. Home Minister Amit Shah also lauded and said that there has been massive voting in favor of the BJP in the first phase of voting.

In fact, by 7 p.m. in the first phase, there was an average voter turnout of 60.03% on 102 Lok Sabha seats. However, it was estimated to be 59.7% by 5 p.m. And by 3 p.m., 49.9% of the total voting had taken place. By 1 p.m., a total of 39.9% voting had occurred.

According to the voting figures until 5 p.m. in different states across the country, the highest voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, while the lowest was in Bihar with 46.32% voting. Meanwhile, in West Bengal, the highest number of 77.57% voters had cast their votes by 5 p.m.

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— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) April 19, 2024

Talking about other states, the voter turnout until 5 p.m. was highest in Tripura at 76.10%, followed by Assam at 70.77%, Puducherry at 72.84%, Meghalaya at 69.91%, Manipur at 68.62%, Sikkim at 68.06%, Jammu and Kashmir at 65.08%, Arunachal Pradesh at 63.97%, Chhattisgarh at 63.41%, Lakshadweep at 59.02%, Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 56.87%, Nagaland at 55.02%, Uttarakhand at 53.56%, and Mizoram at 53.03%.

By 5 p.m., the voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh was 57.54%, in Tamil Nadu it was 62.08%, in Madhya Pradesh it was 63.25%, in Maharashtra it was 54.85%, and in Rajasthan it was 50.27%.

In Madhya Pradesh, until 1 p.m., the voter turnout was 44%, while in Uttarakhand, by 1 p.m., it was 43.1%, in Tripura until 1 p.m., it was 53%, in Maharashtra it was 32%, in West Bengal it was 51%, and in Chhattisgarh it was 41.5%.

By 11 a.m., Rajasthan had recorded a voter turnout of 22.51%. Meanwhile, in Sikkim, out of 4.64 lakh voters for 32 assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, more than 21.2% had exercised their franchise by Friday morning at 11 a.m. Prior to this, stone-pelting incidents were reported during voting in Kuch Bihar, West Bengal. It is reported that stone-pelting occurred in the Chandmari area. A BJP worker was injured in this incident. Voting is underway for 102 seats in 21 states and Union Territories under the Lok Sabha elections today. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat cast his vote in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

After casting his vote in the first phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, showing his inked finger, came out of the polling station. He said, “I would like to make a special appeal to my young companions who are going to vote for the first time, please vote in large numbers. Every vote is valuable in democracy, and every voice matters!” Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah said, “Today is an important day when the first phase of voting is taking place in the country. I appeal to all voters of this phase to vote in maximum numbers because your vote is the power to build a secure, developed, and self-reliant India. Your vote is not just to determine the outcome of one Lok Sabha or candidate but for the bright future of India.”

In the first phase, voting took place for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, 12 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan, 8 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, and 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Voting also took place for 5 seats in Maharashtra, 5 in Assam, 5 in Uttarakhand, 4 in Bihar, 3 in West Bengal, 2 in Meghalaya, 2 in Arunachal Pradesh, and 2 in Manipur.

Additionally, voting took place for 1 seat each in Puducherry, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to the Election Commission, there were a total of 1625 candidates in the field in the first phase of elections. Among them, there are 1491 male and 134 female candidates. In the first phase, 8 central ministers, 2 former CMs, and one former governor are testing their luck in the electoral field. Prominent candidates in this phase include Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupendra Yadav, Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, and Drumuk’s Kanimoi.

In the last election (2019), the BJP won 45 out of these 102 seats, while the NDA won 41 seats. Along with the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, assembly elections were also held in Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32 seats). The results will be out on June 4.

– Dr. Shahid Siddiqui; Follow via X @shahidsiddiqui

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