Heat and hateful rhetoric in Indian election's final stages

Millions of voters stood in queues under the scorching sun as India conducted the sixth phase of its mammoth national election yesterday.

- STUTI MISHRA

More than 111 million voters in eight states and federal territories were registered to vote in the penultimate phase to decide the fate of 889 candidates contesting 58 seats, including all seven seats in the national capital Delhi. The final phase of voting is on 1 June and the results are set to be declared on 4 June.

Nearly 969 million people are eligible to vote in the ongoing election, which will determine if Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party get a third successive term in power. As voters turned out on Saturday, they had to stand in long queues without adequate shade from the scorching sun. In Delhi, mercury hovered around 42C but it felt like 49C at 2pm, according to the weather department.

"We hope that people will overcome the fear of the heatwave and come and vote," Delhi chief electoral officer P Krishnamurthy said.

Mr Modi also urged voters to come out in large numbers. "Every vote counts, make yours count too," the prime minister said.