Low voting percentage in the Hindi belt Western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand during the first phase of polls which concluded on Friday, has become a cause of concern for the political groups with all the warring parties in a fix for the upcoming six phases Parliamentary polls.

Experts and political leaders explained reasons could be scorching heat wave or high temperature, overconfidence amongst BJP voters / cadre that “Aaayega to Modi hi” or lack of enthusiasm amongst Opposition voters that election done deal, Aaayega to Modi hi.

The low voting percentage may go either ways. The Opposition may claim that BJP core voters did come to cast their vote while some section of BJP say people did not come to vote as it was clear that Modi is coming to power for the third time.

Some political experts remarked the low turnout is an indication of tough time for the ruling BJP and a wake up call to make changes in the strategy or activate its cadre.

The total percentage of voting is estimated around 65.5 per cent  for the first phase of polling in 102 constituencies.

In the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 69.43 per cent. Some of the constituencies were different then and the total number of seats which went to polls were 91.

According to EC’s voter turnout app, Hindi belt Western Uttar Pradesh witnessed 60.25 per cent voting, Bihar 48.88 per cent, Rajasthan 57.65 per cent and Uttarakhand 55.89 per cent voting.

The final data of the first phase polling is yet to come.

In UP, 65.95 per cent voting was reported in Saharanpur, 60.60 per cent in Moradabad, 61.17 per cent in Kairana, 59.54 per cent in Nagina, 61.91 per cent in Pilibhit, 58.21 per cent in Bijnor, 54.77 per cent in Rampur and 59.29 per cent in Muzaffarnagar. These seats fall in the Jat and sugarcane belt of the State.

A voter turnout of over 55.89 per cent was recorded in the five Parliamentary constituencies of Uttarakhand.

The voter turnout in Uttarakhand in the 2019 general elections was over 61.48 per cent.

The Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat recorded the highest voter turnout of 61.35 per cent, followed by Haridwar 62.36 per cent, Tehri Garhwal 51.74 per cent, Pauri Garhwal 50.84 per cent and Almora 46.94 per cent.

According to officials, low voting could be attributed to heat or high temperature in Hindi belt areas.  Interestingly, some BJP leaders say voters have realised that Modi Government is coming for the third terms that was the reason why some people did not come to cast their vote.

Given this scenario, leaders of contesting political parties on Saturday traded charges with each other.

On low voting percentage in Uttarakhand, Congress leader Harish Rawat said, “The lower percentage of voting has been observed in the areas where BJP was dominant. This is due to the frustration in medium-income and lower-income groups because of the BJP’s economic policies... I believe the INDIA Bloc alliance is dominant over BJP in the first phase of the elections....”

While RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took a dig at the BJP and said that the BJP’s “400 paar” film has become a super flop on the first day itself, Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan attributed a relatively low voter turnout in Bihar to “no challenge faced by the NDA” in the State.

Paswan, whose party is fighting five out of the state’s 40 seats, as part of the coalition led by the BJP, claimed that the INDIA bloc’s performance will be “worse” than in 2019, when it could win only one seat in Bihar.

“The voter turnout in Bihar is low because the Opposition here is in a state of atrophy. Although the NDA is going to do well everywhere, at least it has some competition in, say, West Bengal, which is a reason why voters there turned up in large numbers yesterday,” he told reporters.

Rajasthan recorded 57.65 percent voting in 12 Parliamentary constituencies here. The highest voter turnout of 66.59 per cent was recorded in the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat while Jhunjhunu saw the lowest turnout of 52.93 per cent, it said. Jaipur recorded a poll percentage of 63.38 per cent.

The voting percentage in Bikaner was 54.11 per cent, Churu 63.615, Sikar 57.53, Jaipur Rural 56,70 , Alwar 60.07 per cent Dausa 55.72, Bharatpur 52.80 per cent and Nagaur 57.23 per cent.

Similarly, Bihar witnessed 48.88 per cent voting. The data showed that 51.56 per cent voters have exercised their franchise in Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, 49.51 per cent in Gaya, 51.02 per cent in Jamui and 43,79 per cent in Nawada.

Amid poll boycotts and issues of name deletion from the electoral roll, Tamil Nadu registered 69.46 per cent polling in the Lok Sabha elections. Coimbatore, one of the key battlegrounds in the state, saw a voter turnout of only 64.81 per cent.

According to the Election Commission data, this is the lowest voter turnout in the state since 2009. The district with the highest voter turnout was Dharmapuri with 81.48 per cent, followed by Kallakurichi (79.25 per cent) and Salem (78.13 per cent). The constituencies in Chennai saw the lowest voter turnout with Chennai Central at 53.91 per cent, followed by Chennai South with 54.27 per cent. Thoothukudi saw a voter turnout of 59.96 per cent

The overall voter turnout has been the lowest in the state for Lok Sabha polls since 2009. In 2009, the overall voter turnout was 73.02 per cent, 73.74 per cent in 2014, and 72.47 per cent in 2019. Several voters across the constituencies in Chennai discovered that their names had been deleted from the electoral roll and could not cast their votes.