Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted prime minister Narendra Modi would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities.
As it progressed over seven phases until 1 June, a deadly heatwave gripped the country, with temperatures almost touching 50C in areas, leading to deaths of dozens of voters and polling officials.
BJP leaders, including the prime minister himself, were accused of openly violating election rules as they resorted to polarising anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail.
On Sunday, Arwind Kejriwal, one of the most prominent opposition leaders and the chief minister of Delhi, was returned to jail after briefly being released on a temporary bail in order to campaign in the elections.
The mainstream media is seen to have been brought under the thumb of the BJP government and predominately pro-Modi narratives were broadcast during the campaign, including dozens of fawning interviews with the prime minister where he proclaimed several times to have been chosen by God.
Yet analysts warned that that the one-sided media narrative and election being seen as fait accompli before campaigning even began had led to a growing mistrust in the electoral system among the public.
The original article contains 1,024 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted prime minister Narendra Modi would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities.
As it progressed over seven phases until 1 June, a deadly heatwave gripped the country, with temperatures almost touching 50C in areas, leading to deaths of dozens of voters and polling officials.
BJP leaders, including the prime minister himself, were accused of openly violating election rules as they resorted to polarising anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail.
On Sunday, Arwind Kejriwal, one of the most prominent opposition leaders and the chief minister of Delhi, was returned to jail after briefly being released on a temporary bail in order to campaign in the elections.
The mainstream media is seen to have been brought under the thumb of the BJP government and predominately pro-Modi narratives were broadcast during the campaign, including dozens of fawning interviews with the prime minister where he proclaimed several times to have been chosen by God.
Yet analysts warned that that the one-sided media narrative and election being seen as fait accompli before campaigning even began had led to a growing mistrust in the electoral system among the public.
The original article contains 1,024 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!