New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Bharatiya Janata Party received a “tremendous response” in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections with an average voter turnout of 60 per cent across the country.

Prime Minister Modi posted on the microblogging site X that people in India voted for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in record numbers.

PM Modi said: “Phase 1, overwhelming response! Thank you to all those who voted today. Great feedback from today’s voting. It is clear that people across India voted for the NDA in record numbers.”

The first issue received an overwhelming response! Thank you to everyone who voted today.

Great feedback from today’s poll. Apparently, record numbers of people voted for the NDA across India.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024

This is the first phase of the seven-phase election, with voting taking place in 102 constituencies in 21 states and union territories. The Electoral Commission (EC) described the turnout as “high” and noted that the vote “remained largely peaceful”.

The turnout rate in the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 69.43%. Some constituencies were different at that time, and the total number of seats voted was 91.

Violence was reported in some areas of West Bengal and Manipur, which is suffering from an ethnic crisis. Manipur Congress candidate A Bimol Akoijam alleged that BJP workers and armed groups were preventing people from coming out of their homes to cast their votes.

At least four incidents of vandalism of electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been reported at polling stations in Manipur state. There was allegedly unease over proxy voting by armed groups.

Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as Lakshadweep completed the voting process in single-phase elections today.

For the first time, people in 56 villages in Bastar in Chhattisgarh cast their votes at polling stations set up in their villages.

The European Commission said voters belonging to tribal communities came out to vote in large numbers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar Islands made history by voting for the first time.

Voters in much of the country braved sweltering heat, while others waited patiently in pouring rain.