Heatwave In 4 States Going To Polls On Friday, Experts Fear Drop In Turnout
NDTV
The India Meteorological Department has forecast a hot summer, with an increase in the number of heatwave days.
As the BJP eyes a third consecutive term and the INDIA bloc tries its best to stop it from doing so, parties and voters are not only having to contend with rising political temperatures but also a heatwave sweeping many states, which is seen to have impacted the turnout in the first phase of polls.
The voter turnout for the first and biggest phase of the general elections settled at 65.5%, a drop of 4.4 percentage points from the 69.9% seen in the same constituencies in 2019.
As many as 13 states and Union Territories are going to the polls in the second phase of Friday and what has got experts as well as the Election Commission worried is that there is a heatwave warning for parts of at least four such states - West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka - on that day.
