There was a 62 percent turnout as the nation queued up, defying summer heat, voting in the first phase of the 2024 general election, covering the largest chunk of 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and union territories. Here is a look at the world's largest democratic exercise as it unfolded across India on the first day of polling
A woman shows her inked finger after casting her vote at a polling station in Dugeli village of Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, in the first phase of India's general election on April 19, 2024. Polling remained largely peaceful even in vulnerable regions like Dantewada and Bastar, which were under the shadow of Naxalism.
Voters wait outside a polling station to vote during the first phase of the general election in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh, on April 19, 2024. In India's first phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, 102 parliamentary seats across 21 states and union territories were up for election.
A woman votes as her partner stands next to her at a polling station during the first phase of the general election in the village Kutba Kutbi, Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, on April 19, 2024. Voting in India, the world's largest democracy, will be conducted in seven phases between April 19 and June 1, 2024.
Voters leave on a truck after casting their vote in India's general election in Dugeli village of Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, on April 19, 2024. Sixty-seven percent braved the heat to vote in Chhattisgarh, where polling was held for the first time in 56 villages of Bastar.