'Always here…': CEC Kumar's response to 'Laapataa Gentlemen' memes
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday addressed a press conference, ahead of the declaration of Lok Sabha election results on Tuesday. The press briefing comes a day after two separate delegations of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance and the ruling National Democratic Alliance approached the Election Commission of India for the counting day. Dismissing memes that referred to the election commissioners as "Laapataa Gentlemen," CEC Kumar said that the ECs were always present and never went missing.
Record voter turnout and reduced repolls in 2024 elections
Addressing the press briefing, CEC Kumar said, "Now memes can say the 'Laapataa Gentlemen' are back." Talking about the elections, the poll official said, the county created a world record with 64. 2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year. Notably, this is the first time for the poll body to hold such a post-election, pre-result briefing.
ECI gives standing ovation to voters
68,000 monitoring teams involved in 2024 polls
He said over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the world's largest electoral exercise. The CEC also said that only 39 repolls took place in 2024 general elections as against 540 repolls in 2019. Kumar added that Jammu and Kashmir recorded its highest turnout in four decades at 58.58% overall and 51.05% in the Valley.
'Next general elections to conclude by end of April'
Kumar also said the ECI will ensure that next general election concludes by the end of April, having learnt its lesson from the relentless heatwave that claimed the lives of 33 on-duty poll workers. He described the counting process as "absolutely robust," addressing all issues raised by multi-party delegations. Kumar shared that over 90% of 495 Model Code of Conduct complaints were resolved during the elections and the ECI effectively controlled deep fakes and AI-generated synthetic content during the election.
CEC on Ramesh's allegations on Amit Shah
On Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's allegations that Home Minister Amit Shah called 150 district magistrates/returning officers after voting concluded, Kumar said, "Can someone influence them [DMs/ROs] all? Tell us who did this. We will punish the person...It is not right that you spread a rumour and doubt everyone." To recall, an INDIA bloc delegation had met the full bench of the ECI on Sunday and urged it to ensure that all the guidelines are followed on the counting day.
CEC reacts to Ramesh's allegations
BJP flags opposition's 'attempt to undermine integrity of poll process'
Hours after the INDIA's delegation met the ECI on Sunday, the BJP also reached the office of the poll body. The delegation was led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and included Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Sanjay Mayukh and Om Pathak. After the meeting, Goyal addressed the media and alleged that they had to call upon ECI, as repeated attempts are being made by the Congress and the INDIA bloc to undermine the integrity of India's robust electoral process.
