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Journalism of Courage
BOOSTED BY the increase in voter turnout in the fourth phase on May 13, the overall turnout in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha elections has touched 66.95 per cent with over 45.10 crore votes being polled, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
In 2019, 374 of the 379 constituencies that have gone to polls so far (five constituencies redrawn and renamed during delimitation in Assam not included) had recorded around 68.5 per cent polling, while the total turnout was 67.4 per cent.
This time, the first three phases saw a dip in turnout as compared to 2019. In the first phase on April 19, when 102 constituencies went to polls, the final turnout was 66.14 per cent, down from around 69.29 per cent in 2019. In the second phase on April 26, in which 88 seats voted, the final turnout was 66.71 per cent, down from 69.43 per cent in 2019. In the third phase on May 7, across 93 constituencies, the final turnout was 65.68 per cent as compared to 66.58 per cent in 2019.
But the fourth phase on May 13, across 96 seats, saw increased polling in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana constituencies as compared to 2019.
In J&K, which had one constituency (Srinagar) in the fourth phase, the turnout jumped by over 23 percentage points, from 14.39 per cent in 2019 to 37.98 per cent this time.
While the final figure for the fourth phase is yet to be released, the provisional voter turnout as of Thursday, according to the EC’s Voter Turnout app, was 69.16% — slightly higher than the 68.8 per cent turnout in these seats in 2019. The EC is expected to release the final turnout for the fourth phase by Friday.
With four phases completed, polling is now over in 23 states and Union Territories, covering 379 of the total 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. The EC is yet to release the total number of votes cast in each of the 379 constituencies.
Earlier, the over 3 percentage points dip in turnout in the first phase had triggered concern. Addressing a rally in Maharashtra a day after that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had encouraged people to vote to “secure the future of the country”.
The EC has also been carrying out voter awareness drives, while expanding existing initiatives. Voter awareness messages have been played at Indian Premier League matches, and messages from top Constitutional authorities, including President Droupadi Murmu and Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, have been broadcast.
“The Commission strongly believes that partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of voter awareness programme. It’s really heartening to see that on the Commission’s request, different institutions, influencers and celebrities having significant reach are working enthusiastically on pro bono basis,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said. He said a high voter turnout would send a message to the world about the “strength of Indian democracy”.
Polling in the remaining constituencies will be held on May 20, May 25 and June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
