India votes in opening phase of general election

MORADABAD/KOCHI - India's multi-phase general election kicked off on April 19, with millions of voters making their way to the polling booths to select candidates for 102 seats spread across 21 states and union territories in the Lower House of Parliament, the Lok Sabha.

- Debarshi Dasgupta, Rohini Mohan

 India Correspondent and India Correspondent

The Election Commission said that more than 60 per cent of eligible voters had cast their ballot by 7pm local time (9.30pm Singapore time). The voter turnout in 2019 was 67.4 per cent, the highest in all Indian general elections.

Election officials said that there was high turnout despite a heatwave in one of the driest, hottest summers in recent memory. Temperatures hovered around 34 deg C to 40 deg C in most polling regions.

More than 167 million voters were registered to cast their votes on the opening day of the seven-phase election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to win a third term in power.

The marathon election for 543 constituencies is scheduled to take place between April 19 and June 1, with all results expected to be declared on June 4.

In the opening phase of the 18th Indian general election, a total of 1,625 candidates including 134 women - were in the running, with voters casting their ballot at 187,000 polling booths across the country.

The greatest concerns for 969 million voters countrywide - 18.2 million of them first-timers are rising unemployment and prices, as well as corruption and religious issues.

The 73-year-old Mr Modi is the clear front-runner, with opinion polls predicting an easy win for the BJP, which won 303 of 543 seats in the 2019 election. The BJP is aiming to garner 370 seats this time.