India election: Modi and rivals trade accusations as voter turnout plummets in second phase | India Elections 2024

India held the second phase of the world's biggest elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rivals leveling accusations of religious discrimination and threats to democracy amid falling voter turnout.

Nearly a billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election that began on April 19 and ends on June 1, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.

Modi is seeking a record third consecutive term because of his economic record, social measures, national pride, Hindu nationalism and personal popularity. Polls suggest he will easily win a comfortable majority.

His opponents have formed an alliance of more than two dozen parties and are promising greater affirmative action, more aid and an end to what they call Modi's autocratic rule.

A total of 88 seats in the 543 lower house of Parliament were voted on on Friday, with 160 million people eligible to vote across 13 states and federal territories.

Rough voter turnout data at the end of voting puts turnout on Friday at 61%, lower than the 65% in the first phase last week and the 68% in the second phase five years ago.

The Electoral Commission and political parties are concerned that unusually hot weather and weddings in some parts of the country could affect turnout.

Analysts say there is not a big enough issue to attract voters this time and the committed Hindu nationalist base of the Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not walk away out of complacency or overconfidence, which would lead to lower participation.

More than half of the seats in Friday's elections were in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka and the northwestern state of Rajasthan.

The campaign has become more heated since the first phase of voting on April 19, as Modi and the main opposition Congress party clashed over communal issues, with Modi accusing the Congress of favoring Muslim minorities, in a bid to dilute positive discrimination and plan to impose a legacy. tax.

The Congress denied the accusations and said Modi feared losing and was using divisive language to distract voters from real issues such as unemployment, rising prices and rural distress.

But some voters were reacting to the BJP.

I will vote for the BJP. Muslims will get many benefits if the Congress comes to power and I don't want taxpayers' money to benefit just one community, said Shree Hari SS, 23, who voted in the tech hub of Bangalore.

Others were unhappy with what they saw as a sectarian shift in policy.

The BJP is using temples and mosques to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims and distance itself from real problems such as unemployment and rising prices, said Sokin Qureshi, 29, an unemployed Muslim voter from the city of Mathura, in the north of the country.

Rahul Gandhi, former Congress president and face of the party, was among 1,200 candidates hoping to be elected on Friday.

This election is not a regular election because for the first time in Indian history, one party and one person is trying to complete the constitution and democracy of India, Gandhi said at a rally election in a region of Karnataka, where voting will take place next week. .

Gandhi is seeking re-election from Wayanad in Kerala and is facing, among others, Communist Party of India (CPI) Annie Raja and BJP's K Surendran in the Left Front-ruled state.

In 2019, Gandhi defeated the CPI candidate by over 400,000 votes, the highest margin in Kerala, although he lost his second seat to the BJP in the family stronghold of Amethi in the north from India. India allows a candidate to run for more than one seat, but they can only retain one if they record multiple victories.

The Congress collapsed to an all-time low when it was swept from power by the BJP in 2014 and won its second-fewest number of seats (52) in 2019, with Kerala contributing the highest total of 15.

The party is expected to do better in Karnataka this year, where it won just one seat out of 28 in 2019, but gained strength and defeated the BJP in last year's state elections.

He still appears to be struggling domestically, as infighting within the opposition alliance he leads and corruption cases against some leaders have hampered his challenge to Modi.

Phase two was so good! Modi posted on X after voting closed. The unprecedented support for the NDA will further disappoint the opposition, he said, referring to his ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.