Reason for low turnout is...: Modi says advantage BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said poor campaigning by the Congress and its allies could be a reason for low voter turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls with even their party workers not turning out to vote for them and this could politically benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The prime minister told PTI in an interview that the Opposition alliance does not believe it has any chance and its leaders as well as cadre are not on the ground.

"In the face of a track record of progress of 10 years, they have no case to make in front of the people and they have already given up," he asserted.

Even non-partisan observers are saying the Congress and INDI alliance are not making any significant effort to campaign on the ground, he said.

"There is no leader or cadre on the ground for them. So, it seems like even the party workers of the Congress and INDI alliance are not turning out to vote for them, let alone their traditional vote base. This could be one reason," the prime minister said.

"If this is the thing that has happened, then it may politically benefit the BJP, but I do think that our democracy would be served even better if all parties put in the hard work to build a pro-development agenda and motivated voters to vote in greater numbers," he felt.

Modi said the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance are leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to the people and asking for a vote for development and progress.

According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout in the fourth phase stood at 69.16 percent, 3.65 percentage points higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

The updated voter turnout figures for the third phase of polling in the Lok Sabha elections was 65.68 percent. In the third phase of the 2019 elections, the turnout was 68.4 percent.

In the second phase of the 2024 elections, the turnout was recorded at 66.71 percent as against 69.64 percent in the second phase of the 2019 polls.

In the first phase of the ongoing general elections on April 19, a 66.14 percent turnout was recorded. In the 2019 polls, the turnout in the first phase was 69.43 percent.

The poll panel said the final turnout will only be available post-counting, with the counting of postal ballots and its addition to the total vote count.