New Delhi:
Ahead of the June 4 counting day for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Monday that India set a world record with 642 million voters participating in the general elections. A record-breaking 312 million women also participated in the voting process in the seven-phase general elections.
Addressing the press conference, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said, “We have created a world record of 642 million proud Indian voters. This is a historic moment for all of us. This is just to give you some small statistics. This is 1.5 times of the voters of all G7 countries – US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada.. all put together.”
“We are comparing voters and not electors and it is 2.5 times of the voters of 27 counties in the EU. That has been the incredible power of the voters of India. There are 312 million proud women voters. This is also the highest ever in the world. It is larger than the 2019 elections.. both the total and the women voters. We must cherish this,” CEC Rajiv Kumar added.
In conjunction with this announcement, the ECI extended a standing ovation to all voters who participated in the LS polls.
On social media memes calling election commissioners ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’, Kumar said, “We were always here, never went missing. Now memes can say the ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’ are back,” he added.
During his address, CEC Rajiv Kumar further stated, “Due to the meticulous work of the election personnel we ensured fewer repolls – we saw 39 repolls in Lok Sabha polls 2024 as opposed to 540 in 2019 and 25 out of 39 repolls were in 2 States only.”
The ECI also noted that voter turnout in Jammu & Kashmir is highest in the last four decades in this Lok Sabha elections 2024. “Jammu and Kashmir recorded highest turnout in four decades at 58.58 per cent overall, and 51.05 per cent in valley,” the CEC said.
“This is one of the General Elections where we have not seen violence. This required two years of preparation,” the CEC further noted in his press conference.
Taking about MCC (Model Code of Conduct) violations, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, “We published suo-moto twice. Over 90 per cent of 495 of the major complaints we received.. we conveyed it to everybody through press notes giving detail of what happened. I will show you what didn’t happen. There was no distribution of cash, liquor, or machines. There was nothing like this this time. We didn’t see what didn’t happen but noticed what did. There were no banners no disturbance in the rallies. It was very peaceful. It was another paradigm shift this time. Earlier, every development work used to stop during MCC. However, this time, we applied the principle that whatever should work should work.”
