India election resumes as Modi ‘ramps up anti-Muslim rhetoric’ over opposition gains

Many people lined polling stations before the start of voting at 7am to avoid the blazing sun later in the day at the peak of Indian summer. The temperature soared to 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon in the Indian capital.

Lakshmi Bansal, a housewife, said while the weather was hot, people usually went out to shop and even attended festivals in such heat.

“This [election] is also like a festival, so I don’t have a problem voting in the heat,” Bansal said.

Saturday’s voting in 58 constituencies, including seven in New Delhi, will complete polling for 89.5 per cent of 543 seats in the lower house of Parliament.

The voting for the remaining 57 seats on June 1 will wrap up a six-week election. The votes will be counted on June 4.

Mehbooba Mufti, a former top elected official of Indian-controlled Kashmir, held a protest with her supporters Saturday claiming that scores of her party workers were detained by the police to prevent them from voting. The chief of the People’s Democratic Party contesting the parliamentary election in the Anantnag-Rajouri district said she complained to election officials.

In West Bengal state, workers belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress party, blocked the car of Agnimitra Paul, one of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, as she proceeded to vote in the Medinipur constituency. The two parties are rivals in the state and their workers often clash on the streets.

A less-than-expected voter turnout in the previous five rounds of voting seems to have left both sides guessing about the elections’ outcome.

Election authorities said they were taking steps to ensure voters’ comfort, such as setting up fans and tents and providing drinking water.

Most polls predict a win for