India begins voting in phase 3 of general elections

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – Voting started in India on Tuesday for the third phase of mega general elections.

From April 19 to June 1, voters across the country will elect 543 lawmakers to the country’s lower house of parliament, also known as the Lok Sabha. The vote count will take place on June 4.

According to India’s election commission, polling will take place on Tuesday in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and union territories. Around 172.4 million voters are eligible to vote in the third phase.

In the last two phases, millions of voters turned out to cast their ballots for 189 parliamentary seats.

Disappointed with the voting percentage in the last two phases compared to the 2019 polls, the election commission said last week that it has doubled up its voter participation interventions “to overcome the small drop in turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls.”

Tuesday’s voting will also witness the visit of a large number of foreign delegates to experience India’s polling process and management, according to the commission.

The election commission said voting will open at 7 a.m. (0130GMT) and end at 6 p.m. (1230GMT).

Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah is among more than 1,300 candidates who are in the fray in Tuesday’s phase of polls. Of the total seats going to the polls, more than 70 seats were swept by the ruling party in the 2019 general elections.

The 93 seats where voting will take place Tuesday include 25 seats in Gujarat state, followed by 14 in southern Karnataka state.

The other states and union territories where elections will take place in this phase are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

The commission said Monday night that 264 observers had reached their constituencies days before the polls.

Ahead of the third phase of voting, the Indian election commission also on Monday issued directions to political parties for the “responsible and ethical use of social media in election campaigning.”

The direction came amid outrage over an animation video posted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka state unit which critics said "demonizes" Muslims. The main opposition, the Indian National Congress party, filed a complaint over the matter.

This election is primarily a battle between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition alliance called INDIA headed by the Indian National Congress.