India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election will involve over 96.88 crore registered voters, and the election, when it is over, would have spanned over 43 days, with an estimated 1.5 crore polling staff engaged in the process. Security personnel drafted for the purpose are over and above this.
Without doubt, this is the world’s largest democratic exercise, with the voting population much more than the combined population of the U.S., and the European Union. From Kanniyakumari in the deep south to the Kashmir Valley in the Himalayas and from Manipur in the east to the Thar desert in Rajasthan, this election is expected to be the world’s most expensive.
Cut to the voting itself, where long-winding queues would be no less than a scene at a first day, first show of a blockbuster movie, but add to it, the searing Indian summer. It takes immense commitment to stand for hours, or walk long distances in the heat, and sometimes in the odd summer shower to cast your vote. The urban voter did not show up with as much enthusiasm as the rural and semi-urban voter. While voting began as early as 7 a.m., most booths saw a small crowd ready to do their part in the electoral process. Crowds slacked around noon, again picked up speed towards the evening. At places where EVMs encountered snags, or there were power cuts, people stayed put.
Reports from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala showed the voting went on till almost midnight. The electors of Delhi cast their votes while enduring the summer heat on Saturday with some voters even fainting due to the blazing sun and hot winds sweeping the national capital even as poll authorities made arrangements to beat the heat. The capital was under an “orange alert” on the polling day with the maximum temperature being recorded at 43.4 degrees Celsius, 3.2 notches above the season’s average, according to the India Meteorological Department. A 70-year-old woman fainted at a polling booth in the West Delhi constituency after casting her vote. She was assisted by the volunteers and taken to the hospital.
The Election Commission of India had sent out a heat advisory to all State electoral officers a month before the polls started on April 19. The advisory followed the India Meteorological Centre’s forecast of above normal temperatures during the summer, predicting stronger and longer spells of heatwaves, especially during March to June. Drinking water and oral rehydration salts were made available in polling booths. Shaded areas were set up at each polling station and the waiting areas fully covered.
Street vendors saw brisk business on the polling days, offering sugarcane juice, coconut water and buttermilk to thirsty customers who wanted to cool off after they had exercised their franchise.
The final phase of election will be held on June 1 and vote counting on June 4.
Long way: Women walk home through a desert area after casting their vote during the second phase of the election in Barmer, Rajasthan on April 26
Beating the heat: A supporter of the Congress takes a swig of water during an election rally at Lakhani in Banaskantha, Gujarat on May 4.
Little respite: Polling officials in Bhopal cover themselves with dupattas before leaving for election duty during the third phase of polls on May 6.
Keeping their cool: Water is distributed to polling staff while arrangements for the first phase of the election are made at Bikaner in Rajasthan on April 18.
Extra precaution: Arrangements were made for large containers of water to be available in election materials distribution centres, such as this one in Barmer, Rajasthan, on April 25.
Heat and dust: A helicopter carrying party leaders and candidates takes off after an election rally on May 10 in the Kannuaj constituency in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the fourth phase of polling.
Post-poll ruminations: Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress activists sit under a tree at the end of the second phase of polling in Rajasthan on April 26.
Fan moment: A man uses a hand fan, which is part of the quirky campaign material featuring a Congress candidate from the Ernakulam constituency in Kerala on April 21.
Thirst quencher: Supporters of the YSRCP rush to collect buttermilk packets from volunteers during a rally at Seethammadhara in Visakhapatnam on May 24.