NEW DELHI: Polls have closed in India’s first phase of mammoth general elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a second term.
The first phase covered an electorate of 142 million voters on Thursday across 20 states and federal territories, who will decide the fate of 91 candidates. Almost 900 million of India’s 1.3 billion people are eligible to vote.
Of the 545 seats in Lok Sabha, 91 seats spread across 18 states went to polls today. Lok Sabha has 545 seats, with a halfway mark of 272.
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Telangana voted in a single phase.
Voting is also being held in parts of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal
The Election Commission said the voter turnout was more than 60 percent on Thursday.
Among the key leaders standing for election today are five Union Ministers – Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal West), General VK Singh (Ghaziabad), Satyapal Singh (Baghpat) and Mahesh Sharma (Gautam Buddha Nagar). Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary were among the noted contestants.
In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, a supporter of the ruling Telugu Desam Party died in a clash outside a polling booth.
Eight constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh saw over 11 percent voting before 9 am.
Shailendra Pratap Singh, Additional District Magistrate of Ghaziabad adjoining Noida, told that voting was going on smoothly in the constituency.
“Generally there is brisk voting either in the morning or between 4 and 6 pm,” he said.
Two people were also killed on Tuesday in Indian-administered Kashmir, a Muslim majority region, prompting authorities to increase security even further.
Shops and schools were closed in Kashmir and roads mostly clear of traffic after separatists called a strike against the election.
Modi, 68, is the front-runner but he faces a tough challenge from Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress party, who has attempted to capitalize on the Modi government’s poor record on jobs and rural poverty.
Because of the vastness of India, the election is being held in seven phases from the tea plantations of Darjeeling to the slums of Mumbai to the tropical Andaman Islands, and everywhere in between. The elections will conclude on May 19. Results will be announced on May 23.
More than 11 million election officials, including security forces, will be deployed across one million polling stations to conduct “the biggest management event of any kind”.
Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014 with their famous promise of “achhe din” (good days), becoming the first party to win an absolute majority in 30 years.
