Election Commission of India Press Conference: The Election Commission of India on Monday addressed a press conference to talk about the track record of successful conduct of elections. The press conference was addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.


“Indian elections are indeed a miracle. Having no parallel in the world," CEC Kumar said.


In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, around 64.2 crore people casted ballots, which is the highest turnout in any country in the world so far. This included 31 crore women and 33 crore male voters.


On Lok Sabha elections, CEC Rajiv Kumar said: "We have created a world record of 642 million voters. This is 1.5 times voters of all G7 countries and 2.5 times voters of 27 countries in EU."






The press conference came just a day ahead of the counting of votes for the 18th Lok Sabha. 


Election Commission of India also gave a standing ovation to all women voters who took part in Lok Sabha elections 2024.


CEC Kumar stated that 312 million women voters exercised their franchise in Lok Sabha elections 2024, which was higher than the 2019 figures and the highest ever across the globe.


The women voters' figures was 1.25 times greater than the voters of 27 countries in the EU. 


"The contribution of voters aged 85 and above is inspiring for our younger generation; they are the heroes of our democracy. They have witnessed India before independence and have shaped this country with their contributions over the past 70 years," CEC Kumar said.


Highest Voter Turnout In J&K In Last 4 Decades


Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest voter turnout in the last four decades. The overall voter percentage was recorded at 58.58 percent and 51.05 percent in the valley.


"We abolished the cumebrsome Form-M for Jammu and Kashmir and we changed the policy for Kashmiri migrants," CEC Kumar said.


The EC also set up 26 special polling station in the erstwhile state.


Polling In Manipur


CEC Rajiv Kumar stated that no major incident of violence was reported from Manipur during the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The northeastern state recorded a total voter turnout of 71.96 percent from Inner Manipur and 51.72 percent from Outer Manipur.


The EC stated that 94 special polling stations were set up across 10 districts and one special polling station was set up in the Tengnoupal district for a single voter.


'All Counting Agents, Candidates Must Witness Counting Process'


CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the poll body woll address all the queries raised by the multi party delegation regarding the counting process.


"All candidates and counting agents must enter the hall, must be able to see everything in front of their eyes. They will be allowed to videograph the entire process.  We are always ready. The system of Indian elections is such that it accounts for a thorough post-election scrutiny. Challenge us if you think we are going wrong somewhwere," CEC Kumar said.


Addressing the issues raised by political parties, EC said the start and end time and date of voting process will be comfirmed by counting agents. The information about the details of the slips and tags to be verified by counting agents when the CU(Contro Unit) is brought for counting will also be done.


The counting officials have been instructed to allow all counting agents to record the results before moving from one machine to another and one round to next.


Besides, the movement of Control units will be monitored by CCTVs.


BJP-Led NDA Set For Third Term: Pollsters


Following the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections, all the exit polls have predicted a clean sweep by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. As per the ABP News-CVoter exit polls, the NDA is projected to secure a seat range between 353 and 383, while the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A bloc may be limited to 152 to 182 seats.


Other parties in the fray have been forecast to win between a range of 4 to 12. 


In terms of seat share, NDA could get 45 per cent of votes while I.N.D.I.A bloc may garner 40 per cent and 15 per cent vote share is likely to go to others.