Too hot to vote: Low turnout lowers Mahayuti spirits

The relatively low percentage of voting has the ruling Mahayuti worried.

This is because the alliance was expecting a higher turnout, given the extensive voter mobilisation drive by its members and the slew of public rallies addressed by national leaders. BJP activists said the searing heat was preventing voters from stepping out of their homes.

A voter turnout of 53.51 per cent was recorded till 5pm in eight constituencies of Maharashtra in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, officials said. This was the lowest among all states which went to polls on Friday. In the first phase of polling held on April 19, there was a turnout of 63.70 per cent for five seats Nagpur, Ramtek, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur and Chandrapur.

On Friday, there was voting in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha and Yavatmal-Washim seats in Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in central Marathwada.

Till 5pm, the turnout percentages were as follows: Wardha - 56.66, Amravati 54.50, Yavatmal-Washim 54.04, Parbhani 53.79, Akola 52.49, Nanded 52.47, Buldhana 52.24 and Hingoli 52.03, election officials said.

At Rampuri in the Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, a 26-year-old man allegedly damaged an electronic voting machine (EVM) by hitting it with an iron object when he came to cast his vote around 4pm, a police officer said.