The phase-3 of the Elections three of the India general elections 2024 concluded as Indian voters casted votes on more than half of the 543 parliamentary seats which could mean that the country has already delivered a ‘verdict’.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi voted Tuesday morning at a polling booth in Ahmedabad. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, too, voted.
Turnout
As per NDTV, an average turnout of 60.6 percent was recorded.
Phase 3 of India Elections
The Phase 3 election is in areas that are BJP strongholds. In 2019, the party won 72 of the 92 seats going to polls today, 26 of them in Gujarat alone.
As per NDTV, Karnataka could be a dark horse given the massive ‘sex scandal’ that has hit BJP ally Janata Dal Secular. The Modi-led BJP, accused of Hindutva policies against minorities of India including largest minority Muslims, has tried to distance itself from the scandal.
Maharashtra, where 11 of 48 seats are going to polls, has proved harder to read given the seismic political shifts the state has seen over the last few years.
The states that went to polls in phase 3 include Assam (4 seats), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Goa (2), Gujarat (26), Karnataka (14), Madhya Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (11), Uttar Pradesh (10), West Bengal (4), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2).
Polling took place in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, where the election due on Phase 2 was postponed following the death of a candidate from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.
Phase 4 of India Elections 2024
The next phase of the election is due on May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4 after the last phase of the election ends on June 1.
