Delegates From 23 Countries To Visit India To Witness World's Largest Elections At ECI's Invitation

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 75 delegates from the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of 23 countries were invited to watch the elections.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will be addressing the delegates on May 5. ( Image Source :PTI )

Delegates from 23 countries will arrive in India to watch the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the invitation from the Election Commission of India (ECI). According to ANI, 75 visitors from the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of 23 countries namely - Bhutan, Mongolia, Australia, Madagascar, Fiji, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Moldova, Tunisia, Seychelles, Cambodia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Chile, Uzbekistan, Maldives, Papua New Guinea and Namibia will take part in the event.

Members from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, and media teams from Bhutan and Israel will also participate. A press note by the ECI says that the delegates will be visiting ‘to witness democratic excellence first hand’. 

"75 International visitors from Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of 23 countries arrive in India to watch the Lok Sabha elections in the country. 75 delegates representing various EMBs and organisations from 23 countries namely - Bhutan, Mongolia, Australia, Madagascar, Fiji,… pic.twitter.com/5WtetSS9mv

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2024

‘Behind on the 4th of May, the program seeks to familiarise foreign EMBs with the nuances of India’s electoral system as well as the best practices used by the largest democracy in the world,’ says the note by ECI.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will be addressing the delegates on May 5 after which the visitors will be taken on a tour of 6 states- Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. They will observe the polls and preparations in various constituencies. The programme will end on May 9.

The ECI has also said that the event will be a first in terms of scale and magnitude of participation.

The third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 is going to take place on Tuesday, May 7. In this phase, voters from 94 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 12 states and Union Territories (UTs) will vote to lock the fate of 1,352 candidates. 

States and UTs to go to polls in this phase include Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.