Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the BJP has received a “great response” in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, which saw a national average voter turnout of 60 per cent.
In a post on the microblogging website X, PM Modi said the people of India are voting for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in record numbers.
“First phase, great response! Thank you to all those who have voted today. Getting EXCELLENT feedback from today’s voting. It’s clear that people across India are voting for NDA in record numbers,” PM Modi said.
First phase, great response! Thank you to all those who have voted today.
Getting EXCELLENT feedback from today’s voting. It’s clear that people across India are voting for NDA in record numbers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
Polling took place in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories in the first of the seven-phase elections. The Election Commission (EC) described the turnout as “high”, noting that voting remained “largely peaceful”.
In the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 69.43 per cent. Some constituencies were different then and the total number of seats which went to the polls were 91.
Violence was reported from some areas in West Bengal and ethnic crisis-hit Manipur. Inner Manipur Congress candidate A Bimol Akoijam alleged BJP workers and an armed group stopped people from coming out of their homes to vote.
At least four incidents of people breaking electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Inner Manipur polling booths were reported. The people got upset allegedly over proxy voting by an armed group.
Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep completed their voting process today in a single-phase election.
For the first time, people in 56 villages in Bastar in Chhattisgarh cast their vote in polling booths set up in their own villages.
The EC said in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, voters belonging to tribal communities came out in large numbers. The Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar made history by casting vote for the first time.
Voters braved the heat in most parts of the country while, at others, they waited patiently in pouring rain.
