After voting in the largest city in his home state of Gujarat, Modi emerged accompanied by bodyguards and showed a finger marked with indelible ink to supporters, who applauded.
Shortly afterwards, in a message published on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Modi made an appeal to vote "to strengthen (...) democracy".
Legislative elections in India take place between April 19 and June 1, in seven phases. The third phase is taking place today, mainly in the states of Assam (northeast), Chhattisgarh (center), Goa (west), Gujarat and Karnataka (south), and in the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (west).
Modi, 73, achieved two victories for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 2014 and 2019, and maintains popularity levels after two terms in which India increased diplomatic influence and economic weight.
The opposition and human rights defenders denounce setbacks in democracy and criticize Modi's appeals to India's majority religious faith (Hindu), to the detriment of large minorities, including India's 210 million Muslims.
Voter turnout in the general elections has so far been lower than that recorded in 2019, which the Indian media attributed to very high temperatures.
In Mathura, in the state of Uttar Pradesh (center), where on April 26, election day, a maximum temperature of 41ºC was recorded, the electoral commission noted a drop of almost nine percentage points in the participation rate compared to 2019.
Meteorological services have predicted scorching temperatures in the coming days in several states, including Madhya Pradesh (center) and Bihar (east), which will go to polls today.
In the state of Telangana (south), where voting will take place at the end of May, authorities announced that polling stations will remain open for another hour, due to the heat wave.
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