Indian election resumes as heatwave hits voters

NEW DELHI: India’s six-week election juggernaut resumed on Friday with millions of people lining up outside polling stations in parts of the country hit by a scorching heatwave.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to win a third term in the election, which concludes in early June.

But turnout in the first round of voting last week dropped nearly four points to 66 per cent from the last election in 2019, with speculation in Indian media outlets that higher-than-average temperatures were to blame.

Modi took to social media shortly before polls re-opened to urge those voting to turn out in “record numbers” despite the heat.

“A high voter turnout strengthens our democracy,” he wrote on social media platform X. “Your vote is your voice!”

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The second round of the poll, conducted in phases to ease the immense logistical burden of staging an election in the world’s most populous country, includes districts that have this week seen temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

India’s weather bureau said on Thursday that severe heatwave conditions would continue in several states through the weekend.

That includes parts of the eastern state of Bihar, where five districts are voting on Friday and where temperatures more than 5.1 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average were recorded this week.

Years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.