New Delhi. 75 delegates representing 23 countries are currently in India to witness the Indian general elections. These representatives will visit six states to inspect elections and related preparations in various constituencies. These include Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This program will end on May 9. The Election Commission said on Sunday that the foreign delegates are being familiarized with the nuances of India’s electoral system as well as best practices in Indian elections.
Organizations from 23 countries that have come to India include Bhutan, Mongolia, Australia, Madagascar, Fiji, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Moldova, Tunisia, Seychelles, Cambodia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Chile, Uzbekistan. , the largest delegation ever, representing the Maldives, Papua New Guinea and Namibia. Members of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and media teams from Bhutan and Israel are also participating.
On Sunday, a special program was organized with foreign representatives in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. On the sidelines of the event, the Commission also held bilateral talks with the Chief Election Commissioners of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Nepal and their delegations. The Chief Election Commissioner told the delegates from various countries that the contribution of the Indian electoral sector and the work done by the Election Commission of India plays an important role in the world democratic arena. What can legitimately be called ‘democratic surplus’, in terms of process and capacity, is of great importance given the growing concerns of the contraction or decline of democratic spaces around the world.
Kumar said the Indian constituency is unique because neither electoral registration is mandatory nor voting is compulsory. Therefore, it is important for the Election Commission to invite people to voluntarily become part of the voter list. Then, work with full confidence to convince them to exercise their right to consent through a systematic voter awareness programme.
He said, “It would be self-evident to say that the credibility of the process we adopt is validated through huge turnout in elections and near saturation of the voter list in terms of voter-population ratio.” Commenting on the scale of the electoral process in India, he said that 9.70 crore voters will be welcomed by more than 1.5 crore polling personnel at more than 10 lakh polling stations spread across the country.
Kumar said that the diversity of the country’s voters can be seen in its full expression by the representatives coming to the polling stations. He said that India is a country of festivals. He invited the delegates to experience the festival of democracy firsthand. The delegates were briefed on various aspects of Indian General Elections 2024 including EVM-VVPAT, IT initiatives, role of media and social media.
The briefing session was chaired by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Dharmendra Sharma and Deputy Election Commissioner R.K. Gupta observed the elections. After this, presentations were given on EVM-VVPAT and IT initiatives of ECI.
Tags: Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 5, 2024, 23:25 IST