Lok Sabha Elections 2024: India Sees 64% Voter Turnout in First Phase of General Election

By the end of Phase 1, approximately 60.03% of people had cast their votes in the elections. There were reports of sporadic violence in Manipur and Bengal.

Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, which also held elections for their assemblies, had voter turnouts of 68% and 68.3% respectively. In contrast, in 2019, the voter turnout was 81.4% in Sikkim and 65.1% in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu, which had a single-day election, witnessed a voter turnout of 67.2%, a decrease from 72.4% in 2019. Rajasthan, along with Tamil Nadu, accounted for half of the 102 seats that went to polls and recorded a voting percentage of 57.3%, down from 64% in the previous election.

By 7 pm, Uttar Pradesh recorded 59.5% voting, while Madhya Pradesh had a turnout of 66.7%. Bengal saw one of the highest turnouts at 77.6%, where the BJP aimed to narrow the gap with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.

The northeastern states, where the BJP holds dominance, had high turnouts: Assam 72.3%, Meghalaya 74.5%, Manipur 69.2%, Arunachal Pradesh 67.7%, and Tripura an impressive 80.6%. Incidents of clashes and violence were reported in Cooch Behar in Bengal and gunfire was reported from a polling station in Bishnupur, Manipur.

Additionally, two elderly individuals died at polling booths in Salem district, Tamil Nadu. The BJP, confident about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, has set high targets for the election results, including in the southern states and Bengal.

The Congress, though pushed out of much of north India, is hopeful for a comeback. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.