India鈥檚 election commission said on Monday a staggering 642 million people voted in just-concluded six-week-long polls, a day ahead of the results which prime minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to win.
Nearly all observers believe Modi鈥檚 appeals to Hindu nationalist sentiment will give him a third term in power, a decade after he first took office.
Exit polls show 73-year-old Modi is well on track to triumph, with the premier saying he was confident that 鈥榯he people of India have voted in record numbers鈥� to re-elect his government.
Modi鈥檚 opponents have been hamstrung by infighting and what they say are politically motivated criminal cases aimed at hobbling challengers to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
But chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday praised the complex logistical operation of the election, saying that the 鈥榲oter is the real winner鈥�.
While total numbers of voters were up, turnout appeared to be slightly reduced from the last general elections.
Based on the commission鈥檚 figure of an electorate of 968 million, 66.3 per cent of eligible voters turned out so far, down roughly one percentage point on the 2019 vote, when turnout hit 67.4 per cent.
Final voter turnout data will only be released after repolling in two stations in West Bengal state on Monday.
鈥榃e have created a world record of 642 million Indian voters, it is a historic moment for all of us,鈥� Kumar told reporters, adding that nearly half of those 鈥� 312 million 鈥� were women.
Kumar said that 鈥榲oters chose action over apathy, belief over cynicism and in some cases, the ballot over the bullet鈥�, the commission said.
鈥業t shows the incredible power of voters of India,鈥� Kumar added, saying that there had been 鈥榥o major incidents of violence鈥�.
Voting in the seventh and final staggered round ended on Saturday, and counting and results are due on Tuesday.
鈥楶eople should know about the strength of Indian democracy鈥�, he added.
On Sunday, Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an alliance formed to compete against Modi, returned to prison.
Kejriwal, 55, was detained in March over a long-running corruption probe, but was later released and allowed to campaign as long as he returned to jail once voting ended.
鈥榃hen power becomes dictatorship, then jail becomes a responsibility,鈥� Kejriwal said before surrendering himself, vowing to continue 鈥榝ighting鈥� from behind bars.
Modi鈥檚 political opponents and international rights groups have long sounded the alarm about threats to India鈥檚 democracy.
US think tank Freedom House said this year the BJP had 鈥榠ncreasingly used government institutions to target political opponents鈥�.
Analysts have partly blamed the drop in voter turnout on hotter-than-average temperatures heading into the Indian summer.
Tens of millions of people queued outside ballot stations during successive heatwaves across northern India that brought temperatures in excess of 45 degrees Celsius.
At least 33 polling staff died from heatstroke on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh state alone, where temperatures hit 46.9C, according to state election officials.
鈥榃e learnt from this election that polling should end earlier,鈥� Kumar said. 鈥榃e should not have done it in so much heat鈥�.
India uses electronic voting machines that allow for faster counting of ballots.
鈥榃e have a robust counting process in place,鈥� Kumar said.
Counting will begin at 8:00am (0230 GMT) in voting centres in each state, with the data fed into computers. Results are expected to be ready within hours.
The polls were also a gigantic logistical exercise. A total of 15 million people worked on the polls, including people temporarily assigned from elsewhere in the civil service.
Election officials travel by foot, road, trains, helicopters, boats, and occasionally camels and elephants, to set up polling stations in remote locations.