Lok Sabha Election: BJP leading in India’s metros, set to increase vote share
India’s urban centres, seen as hubs of progress, often appear to take on a prime role in shaping the political discourse. Voting numbers at around 10.45 am in 30 select constituencies across six metro cities show that Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has increased its vote share to 44.4% in the current Lok Sabha election, from nearly 39% in the 2019 election and 32% in 2014. Congress’ vote share in these constituencies has also increased, from 17.8% in the previous national election to nearly 21% as of the latest data.
Its vote share had declined from 26% in the 2009 election to 15% in 2014. The analysis is based on constituencies in six of India’s largest cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru—which accounted for nearly 6.2% of all registered electors in the just-concluded Lok Sabha election. The ‘none of the above’ option, which was introduced in a Lok Sabha election for the first time in 2014, has not found too many takers in these cities, getting just 0.7% vote share in 2024 compared to 1% in 2019 and 0.9% in 2014.
The biggest metro cities have grappled with declining voter turnouts, particularly this year. Kolkata saw the biggest drop in voter turnout this year, when it fell nearly 4.7 percentage points since 2019, provisional data show. This was followed by Chennai, where the voter turnout fell to 56% from 59.7%.
Read more on livemint.com
