Several top leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be among the 1351 candidates in fray for 93 seats from 12 states and union territories that will go to the polls on May 7 in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The 2024 general elections are a two-and-a-half-month process, with voting taking place in seven phases till June 1 where nearly 97 crore people are expected to exercise their voting rights. As elections enter the key phase at the beginning of May, the temperatures have also started peaking. If the mercury soars, it might deter voters from taking part in the electoral exercise. The first phase of the elections registered a disappointing voter turnout of approximately 66.1 per cent for 102 seats, while the second one sank to 60.9 per cent for 89 seats.
Fewer people coming out to vote has become a matter of concern for parties as well as candidates. An intense heatwave has gripped several states and is said to be one of the factors behind the lower voter turnout in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha election. India has been sweltering under unprecedented heatwaves ever since the beginning of the summer season in April, and these are more pronounced in east and peninsular India than the north and northwest. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had already predicted more than double the average heat waves during April-June, i.e. 10 to 20 days of heat waves against a normal of four to eight days to be precise. The heat this year is expected to be worse than in 2023, which has been the warmest year on record to date. Mercury has been settling between 42 and 45 degrees, even soaring to 47 degrees in some parts of the country.
April has seen one of the longest spells of heatwave extending up to 15 days. As usual, we can expect mid-May to mid-June to see searing heat. An unprecedented rise in temperatures can be attributed to the absence of pre-monsoon rain and thundershowers. Countrywide cumulative rainfall was deficit to the tune of 20 per cent. Political parties have reasons to be worried about the impact of the temperature on their electoral prospects. The first phase, on April 19, and the second one, on April 26, showed a considerable dip in voter turnout. This decline in turnout across India was evident in 19 out of the 21 states that voted in the first phase, with the Hindi-heartland states, including Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and the rest of India (consisting of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra) showing significant drops. Soaring temperature has apparently turned the heat on the ruling BJP and its NDA allies or the Opposition INDIA bloc.
