 "Rajiv Kumar, Rajiv, ECI")
The recently concluded Lok Sabha election 2024 had thrown up several historic milestones. Among them was a world record with 642 million registered voters, said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar addressing a press conference held a day before the election results were announced. Additionally, a record-breaking 312 million women participated in the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections of 2024.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), while highlighting the transparency with which the elections were conducted, noted that during the election season, the poll body issued close to 100 press notes, a number never achieved before.
Around 68,000 monitoring teams, 15 million polling and security personnel were deployed to manage the General Elections. Additionally, 135 special trains to carry security forces were deployed and 400 thousand vehicles and 1,692 air sorties were involved.
Talking about the re-polling numbers, Rajiv Kumar said that this time only 39 re-polls were held as opposed to 540 re-polls in the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Out of the 39, 25 re-polls were held in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur alone due to the sensitive nature of the regions. He further informed that 27 states didn’t require any re-polling at all.
‘Laapataa gentlemen’ jibe
Rajiv Kumar said, “Social media meme pages are calling us ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’. But we were never laapataa (missing), we were always here.”
“Now memes can say the ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’ are back,” he quipped.
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Less violent incidents recorded this time
Speaking on the incidence of violence, the poll body chief said that no major incidents of violence were recorded in these General Elections. Overall, the “environment at polling stations was festive,” he noted.
Regarding the abuse of money during the elections, Kumar mentioned that no major incident of distribution of freebies, liquor, or cash was observed. Drugs worth Rs 4,391 crore were seized during the elections.
Kumar said that the message of a free and fair election was strong. Noting the incidents of helicopter checks of Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and Opposition leaders, the CEC said that the narrative of this election was set straight.
Talking about the model code of conduct (MCC) violations, the poll body chief said that notices were sent to several party leaders for not adhering to the rules, and even FIRs were filed against many candidates. “Officers were removed from six Chief Ministers’ offices. This set a narrative that without any bias, we will take action against DMs etc,” he said.
He also highlighted that the ‘Viksit Bharat’ message, which violated the MCC, was stopped, while anonymous hoardings were removed all over the country.
Misinformation and AI threat neutralised
Rajiv Kumar said that before the election there was a fear of AI generated material that could impede the elections. However, the Election Commission managed the threat of deepfakes and AI generated content successfully.
Robust system for counting
Robust systems have been put in place for the counting process on June 4, with all the processes being codified. “All candidates and their polling agents were shown the randomised EVMs and they signed on the Form 17C. CCTV, security personnel, micro-observers were there to ensure EVM behind locked doors,” he said stressing the robustness of the counting process.
Are unopposed victories a hindrance to elections?
Answering a question on the Surat and Indore candidates’ unopposed victories, Kumar said that the legislative scheme is clear. “Up front, we want a contest everywhere. If someone decides to withdraw, what can we do,” he said. Kumar said that if a candidate is forced to withdraw by threat of violence or any other pressures, then the ECI can take action.
Mukesh Dalal, the BJP candidate from the Surat parliamentary constituency, was elected unopposed on April 22, following the rejection and withdrawal of other candidates’ nominations.
The announcement of Dalal’s unopposed victory came on the final day for the withdrawal of nominations. Pyarelal Bharati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was the last candidate to withdraw.
The Congress candidate, Nilesh Kumbhani, had his nomination declined on April 21, after the district returning officer identified discrepancies in the signatures of his proposers. Soon after, the Congress fielded another candidate, Suresh Padsala, but his nomination was also rejected for similar reasons.
Meanwhile, In Indore, Congress’ candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP on the last day of withdrawal of nominations for the seat.
Fear of post-poll violence
Exuding confidence over high turnouts in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas, Kashmir, and other sensitive areas, the Chief Election Commissioner said that the country is tired of violence. “People have chosen ballot over bullet. We don’t think there will be any post-poll violence. If it happens, even after MCC Central paramilitary forces will be present, we have decided. They will be under the state government’s directive. J&K, LWE areas are a hopeful story,” he said.
The postal ballot complaint
Ahead of the counting of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on June 4, the INDIA bloc has asked the Election Commission to instruct Returning Officers to finish the counting of postal ballots before concluding the counting of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The Opposition’s concern arises from a change in the Election Commission’s guidelines in 2019 regarding the counting of postal ballots. Until the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the counting of postal ballots began first, and the counting of EVMs started 30 minutes later. All postal ballots had to be counted before completing the EVM counting.
Answering the postal ballot concerns, the poll body said that postal ballot counting will start first. After half an hour would start EVM counting. “In the majority of the booths, postal ballot numbers are low, thus the counting gets over early,” Kumar said.
Attacks on the Election Commission
Criticising the attacks by different parties on the Election Commission, Kumar said that the poll body failed in counting the “hidden 5th M”, mischievous narratives against EC. “We failed to understand,” Kumar said.
Noting a pattern, the CEC highlighted that before the election began there were complaints of wrong voter lists. “It took us 15 days to prepare the affidavit. But eventually, the case fizzled out,” he said.
Replying to the allegations of mismatch and delay in giving voter data after the first phase of voting, Kumar said that State, Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs), and Assembly-wise data were there on the ECI app. “What wasn’t there in the first phase was the total of PCs and ACs on top. The numbers were showing in percentages but it wasn’t showing in total numbers. It started from phase 2,” he said.
“It is a fake narrative. And we admit we failed completely, Now we have understood,” Kumar said.
On learnings from 2024 LS polls
Noting the biggest learning of these elections, Kumar said that the elections have to be conducted a bit early to avoid the impact of heatwaves. “We should reduce the impact of heat,” he said.
“There is a pattern, there is a design... I won’t say there is a toolkit. Neither did we delay the publication of voter turnout data, nor did we alter the data. Still, there is talk of irregularities in voter lists or calls to 150 DMs and collectors. We need to fight the false narrative better,” he said.
