India votes in final phase of elections
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00:00Hello to you, Pavni. Tell us more about this final phase. What are some of the highlights?
00:08Good afternoon. And after weeks, we are here at the final stage. And it's an interesting
00:14mix today. On one hand, you have the entire state of Punjab that is voting. And that's
00:20important to highlight because Punjab is one place where anti-Modi and anti-BJP sentiment
00:26is quite high, especially among the farmers. You know, farmers from Punjab were the ones
00:31who spearheaded that long protest against agricultural reform laws all the way back
00:37in 2020. Those protests lasted more than a year. And earlier this year, they tried to
00:43revive that again, marching in thousands toward New Delhi. And they were met with police crackdown.
00:50The other important highlight of the day is, well, the prime minister himself. He is on
00:56the ballot, running from a town in northern India that is widely considered to be the
01:01spiritual capital of Hinduism. This is very much in line with his image of, you know,
01:08being a Hindu nationalist. In fact, as I speak, he is in southern India in the middle of a
01:1442-hour meditation. He says this is his way of ending this long election. But opposition
01:21parties say this violates the rules. They say this is a form of campaigning, and campaigning
01:27according to rules should have ended on Thursday.
01:30And Pavni, just a word to our viewers. I guess we should mention you're holding that umbrella,
01:34not because of the rain, but trying to find some much needed shade. This world's biggest
01:39election coming amid a deadly heatwave. How has that impacted the poll?
01:44Yeah, so this umbrella, I mean, I'm very grateful to it, but it is still, I have to say, very,
01:51very hot over here, nearly 44 degrees. It's really like I'm reporting from a furnace.
01:56But, you know, the heatwave has impacted elections. It has been partially blamed for the lower
02:01voter turnout. Just over the last few days, authorities saying that more than 50 people
02:06have died because of extreme heat. Many of these people were poll workers, so it is affecting
02:12the ongoing elections.
02:14But beyond that as well, I mean, in Delhi, temperatures crossed 50 degrees Celsius a
02:19couple of days ago. We are having a water crisis over here. Authorities requesting
02:25neighboring states to send over water to make sure the national capital has enough.
02:30In other parts of the country, authorities asking people to stay home during peak hours
02:35like this one. But it is not always easy. You know, there are many, many people here,
02:41millions of people who work outdoors, you know, farmers, construction workers. So this
02:45heatwave is not just affecting elections, but also overall economy and the health of
02:51people.
02:52Indeed. Pavni, stay safe. Thank you very much. Pavni Mittal reporting from New Delhi.