NDA Receives Record Support in Phase 1 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Says PM Narendra Modi

In a post on the microblogging website X, PM Modi announced that the people of India are voting for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in record numbers. He thanked all those who had voted in the first phase and mentioned that the feedback had been excellent.

The Election Commission (EC) described the turnout as “high” and noted that voting had been “largely peaceful”. The first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw a turnout of 69.43 percent as polling took place in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.

However, incidents of violence were reported in some areas of West Bengal and Manipur. In Manipur, an Inner Manipur Congress candidate alleged that BJP workers and an armed group had obstructed people from voting, with at least four incidents of breaking electronic voting machines (EVMs) reported.

Several states and Union Territories completed their voting process in a single-phase election, including Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. Notably, voters in 56 villages in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, cast their votes in polling booths set up in their own villages.

In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, voters from tribal communities came out in large numbers, with the Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar casting their vote for the first time. The voting process was accompanied by various challenges, with voters facing heat in most parts of the country and patiently waiting in pouring rain in others.