In accordance to the rising temperatures in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the voting hours for the upcoming three phases of the parliamentary polls at 1,700 polling places spread across four parliamentary seats, Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger. The extension of the voting hours was announced by poll officials on Wednesday.

Polling generally takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in most parts of the country, however, in certain isolated locations and in constituencies impacted by left-wing extremism, polls close two hours early to allow polling parties to move around easily.

The ECI gazette notification said the dates for the parliamentary constituencies of Banka (Katoria and Belhar assembly segments), which will hold elections on April 26, Madhepura (Mahishi assembly segment), Khagaria (Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Alauli, and Beldaur assembly segments), where voting will take place on May 7, and Munger (Suryagarha assembly segment), which will hold final phase elections on May 13, have been extended.

The voting period has been extended by two hours for a total of 299 polling stations in Simri Bakhtiarpur, 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 172 polling stations in Katoria Assembly Constituency (AC) and 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 207 booths in Mahishi AC of Madhepura seat, and 230 polling stations in Suryagarha AC of Munger.

In an effort to boost voter turnout, which fell to 49.26% in the first phase of polling on April 19 in Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Jamui from 53.47% in 2019 by 4.21%, the timing has also been extended.

Meanwhile, during the course of the next several days, temperatures in the southern states, namely Kerala and Karnataka, are predicted to rise by 2-3°C. In Southern Karnataka, where up to 14 constituencies are scheduled to vote in Phase 2, a heatwave warning has been issued. It is predicted to affect the districts of Tumkur, Davangere, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Koppal, Bagalkote, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Ballari, Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, and Davangere.

The EC stated that a likely factor influencing voter turnout is the increase in temperature.

Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday appealed to the people of Kalaburagi to at least attend his funeral if they thought he worked for them even though they do not wish to vote for Congress in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The 81-year-old Congress leader was speaking at a election rally in Afzalpur and said that if the people did not vote for the Congress candidate, he would think that he did not have any place in Kalaburagi anymore. The Congress President sought an emotional chord with the people of his home district of Kalaburagi, Karnataka

The grand old party has fielded Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani from Kalaburagi, against BJP’s sitting MP Umesh Jadhav. Kharge had won the Lok Sabha elections from Kalaburagi in 2009 and 2014, but lost in 2019. He appealed to the voters to vote for Congress but at least come to his funeral if they thought that he had done some work in Kalaburagi. Kharge added that he would continue in politics till his last breath to defeat the BJP and RSS ideology.

The Congress leader said he is born for politics and whether or not he contests the election, he will continue to strive till his last breath to save the Constitution and democracy of the country. He asserted that he will not retire from politics. Kharge said that retirement happens from a position but one should not retire from his/her principles. He said he is born to defeat the ideology of the BJP and RSS and not to surrender before them.

He advised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who shared the stage with him, to follow his principles. He said he had told Siddaramaiah many times that he may retire as CM or MLA, but he cannot retire from politics till he defeats the ideology of the BJP and RSS.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari collapsed while speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on Wednesday afternoon. Fortunately, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader received prompt treatment and was able, after a brief pause, to get back up on stage and continue his speech.

A disturbing video of the incident – which was unfortunately streamed live on X (formerly Twitter), including by his own account – showed Nitin Gadkari being carried away by those on stage, many of whom rushed to form a shield around the BJP leader to give him, and those treating him, some privacy.

Nitin Gadkari took to X and informed that he felt uncomfortable due to the heat during the rally in Pusad, Maharashtra. But now he is completely healthy and is leaving for Varud to attend the next meeting. He thanked his supporters and well wishers for their love and good wishes.

Gadkari, who fought the elections in the first phase of voting as BJP’s candidate from Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, was campaigning for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Rajashree Patil in Yavatmal’s Pusad. Addressing the rally, the union minister said, he was confident that the people of Yavatmal district, which has a constant tendency towards development, will give victory to the BJP-Maha alliance, which believes in all-round development.

Gadkari posted on X that as the nation moves towards a developed India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant work has been done in the last 10 years in the areas of roads and highways as well as health, education and other sectors across the country. He said many schemes of the central government were successfully extended to the rural areas. Due to this, along with the city, the people of the rural areas are also able to benefit from many important facilities.

The Yavatmal constituency along with Akola, Buldhana, Amravati, Hingoli, Wardha, Parbhani and Nanded in Maharashtra are scheduled to vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 26.