Lok Sabha Elections 2024: PM Narendra Modi Hails Record Voter Turnout for NDA in Phase 1

In a post on the microblogging website X, PM Modi expressed gratitude towards the people of India for voting for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in record numbers in the first phase of the elections. The polling took place in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.

The Election Commission (EC) described the turnout as “high” and noted that the voting process remained “largely peaceful”. The voter turnout in the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was recorded at 69.43 per cent.

However, there were instances of violence reported from some areas in West Bengal and Manipur. In Manipur, an Inner Manipur Congress candidate alleged that BJP workers and an armed group had stopped people from voting, and there were incidents of people breaking electronic voting machines (EVMs) in polling booths.

The alleged proxy voting by an armed group caused upset among the people. On the voting day, several states and Union Territories completed their voting process in a single-phase election, including Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

Notably, in Bastar in Chhattisgarh, people from 56 villages cast their votes in polling booths set up within their own villages. Additionally, in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, voters from tribal communities came out in large numbers, with the Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar casting their votes for the first time.

During the voting process, voters encountered different weather conditions, braving the heat in most parts of the country while waiting patiently in pouring rain in other areas.