India's massive election faces heatwave challenge in penultimate phase
World
India's massive election faces heatwave challenge in penultimate phase
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian voters braved temperatures of nearly 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in parts of the country as they headed to polling stations in the penultimate phase of the world's largest election on Saturday.
More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and federal territories are eligible to vote in the general election's sixth phase, which recorded turnout of 49.2% at 3 p.m., with three hours of polling left.
The overall turnout in the same phase of the last election in 2019 was about 63pc.
Among those casting their ballots early on Saturday in the capital New Delhi were Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party and the main rival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - whose Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win a third consecutive term.
Gandhi was accompanied by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, and sister, Priyanka Vadra.
Voting in the elections began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with results due on June 4.
Paramedics were on hand with oral hydration salts at polling stations in Delhi, where mist machines, shaded waiting areas and cold water dispensers have also been installed by the Election Commission due to concerns about the heat.
