“India’s Historic Voter Turnout: A New World Record!”

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced that India set a world record with 642 million voters participating in the Lok Sabha polls. Briefing the media in New Delhi today, Mr. Kumar noted that this figure is 1.5 times the total number of voters in all G7 countries – the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. He added that 312 million women voted in this election, the highest number ever recorded worldwide. Additionally, only 39 re-pollings were conducted, compared to 540 in the 2019 General Election. Mr. Kumar mentioned that over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 million polling and security personnel were involved in the electoral process.

The Chief Election Commissioner stated that no major incidents of violence occurred during this Lok Sabha election. He reported seizures totaling 10,000 crore rupees, including cash, freebies, drugs, and liquor, compared to 3,500 crore rupees in 2019. Mr. Kumar said over 90 percent of the 495 Model Code of Conduct violation complaints were resolved during this year’s General Elections.

Highlighting the robust counting process, the Chief Election Commissioner said that a three-layer security system involving Central Armed Police Forces has been implemented at the counting centers. Round-the-clock CCTV coverage will be provided at these centers, with micro-observers at each counting table.

Mr. Kumar assured that all issues raised by the opposition party delegation have been addressed. In response to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s allegation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah called returning officers, the CEC said it is not right to spread rumors. When asked about conducting assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Kumar said the commission would soon start the poll process there.