India election: lower voter turnout raises questions of fatigue with PM Modi’s ruling BJP

As India’s general election nears the halfway mark, falling voter turnout is prompting concerns about voter disengagement in the world’s largest poll.

Analysts and political party figures say there are good reasons for the decline, and the lower participation doesn’t necessarily suggest advantage for either side. Even so, the drop has raised questions about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s support, with uncertainty spreading to financial markets.

This week saw as many as 172 million eligible Indians going to the polls in phase three of the country’s marathon seven-phase election, which runs through June 1. Turnout was 65.7 per cent, lower than in phases one and two and down from 67.4 per cent in the last general election in 2019, according to the Election Commission of India.

While it’s too early to offer a definitive explanation for the decline, there are a handful of likely factors. Foremost among them: Voters are having a hard time getting excited about a contest that looks far from in doubt. Pre-election polls pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi cruising to a third five-year term in his contest against a diminished opposition.

Another possible factor: Modi’s BJP accomplished a number of its key second term objectives, including the removal of autonomy for the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversial construction of a Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya. That’s left the party short on big new campaign promises to animate turnout this year.

“This time there is no big emotive issue on which the election is being contested, no new leadership on the campaign trail,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi think tank.

Modi appeared to acknowledge the challenges in an