National Desk
3 June
Sandeep Dhand Ludhiana
India has set a new world record with 642 million voters, including 312 million women, participating in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Monday. In a press briefing, Kumar highlighted the extensive efforts and resources involved in this monumental electoral exercise.
The Chief Election Commissioner noted that over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 million polling and security personnel were deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the elections, described as the largest democratic exercise in the world. “India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year,” Kumar stated.
Addressing the criticism on social media, where memes dubbed election commissioners as ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’ (missing gentlemen), Kumar responded humorously, “We were always here, never went missing. Now memes can say the ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’ are back.”
The logistics of the election were staggering, involving nearly 400,000 vehicles, 135 special trains, and 1,692 air sorties. Remarkably, only 39 repolls were conducted in the 2024 elections, a significant decrease from the 540 repolls in the 2019 elections.
Kumar also pointed out the record voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir, which saw its highest participation in four decades with an overall turnout of 58.58 percent, and 51.05 percent in the Valley.
In terms of enforcement, the 2024 elections saw substantial seizures of Rs 10,000 crore worth of cash, freebies, drugs, and liquor, compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2019, demonstrating the Election Commission’s stringent measures against electoral malpractices.
This election, marked by unprecedented voter engagement and rigorous monitoring, stands as a testament to India’s robust democratic process.