New Delhi: The first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections took place on April 19 and the second on April 26, but the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to release the final numbers on voter turnout for either phase. What is available is only the “approximate trend” that the ECI released around 7 pm on each of the voting days.

This approximate trend for April 19 was 60% and for April 26 was 60.96%.

A top ECI official told businessline that the final polling percentage in the first phase was 66.14% and for the second phase 66.7%. “We will place the final figures on our website as soon we collate,” he told the newspaper. The numbers are not yet on the website.

However, businessline has reported, it is not over voter turnout data that is missing from the website. Another number missing was the number of voters registered in each parliamentary constituency. The newspaper states, “When businessline tried to find the number of voters in each constituency, all we got was booth-wise electoral lists in some select States such as Uttar Pradesh. This data is not available for Odisha, Bihar or even Delhi. If one tries to find the number of voters for Bihar or Odisha, an error message flashes on the final page that is supposed to provide the information.”

As The Wire has reported, the estimated voter turnout so far has been below what was seen in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“How should one understand the drop? Those critical of the Modi government like the political analyst Yogendra Yadav view the trend as visible apathy towards the Centre, and claim that the drop in voter turnout is higher in seats held by the BJP-led NDA than those held by non-NDA parties. But supporters of the BJP believe that the grueling heat could be the reason, and think that those opposing the Modi government may not have turned up out of exasperation that the prime minister’s re-election is predetermined,” Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta wrote.

“…The Lok Sabha polls are being conducted like a business-as-usual, routine affair. The BJP leaders, led by the prime minister himself, have indulged in unprecedented hateful remarks against minorities with impunity, with no real intervention by the ECI. The opposition ranks, barring a few regional leaders, have struggled with mobilising its cadre and gathering resources, giving an impression that there is no credible challenger to the excesses committed by the Modi regime.

The lack of a level-playing field is there for everyone to see. It isn’t a secret anymore. Local concerns dominate in the polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha, even as there is a perceptible exhaustion with repetitive campaigning. And that may be the real reason why voter turnout is dipping, both among the supporters of the Modi government and its critics.”