 "Conclude polls before summer: CEC Kumar shares his 'biggest learning'")
On the eve of the vote count for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajeev Kumar on Monday shared his insights on the electoral process, saying the biggest learning was the need for it to be completed before the onset of summer. He also underscored that the poll panel should be prepared to deal with “false narratives” emerging from within the country to malign the election process.
Kumar, addressing a press conference here, said the poll body accomplished a “miracle” by organising a violence- and clutter-free election process. He said the big success story of this election was the complete absence of “deep fakes”.
However, the poll panel was taken aback, the CEC said, by the “mischievous narratives”, which had a “pattern and a design, if not a toolkit”, and some of this propaganda could have caused “anarchy in the country”.
The CEC stressed the EC did not delay furnishing the details of voter turnouts, which were shared as soon as re-polling was concluded for a particular phase, and rejected speculation that the turnout data could be changed. He said the poll panel had prepared to counter misinformation from outside the country but was surprised that it would come from within.
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Elaborating on the “learnings” from the exercise, Kumar said the poll process should have concluded at least a month before it did because of the heatwave, that the EC should be prepared to counter “fake narratives”, and not to hold polling on Fridays and Mondays, which potentially contributes to lowering of voter turnouts.
Kumar spoke of the “robustness” of the counting process. He said the EC has agreed to the demands of the all-party delegation that met it on Sunday evening, including counting postal ballots before the counting of votes via electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The CEC said the increased voter turnout in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has “enthused” the poll body to conduct the Assembly polls there “very soon”. In December, the Supreme Court had asked the EC to conclude the Assembly polls in the UT by September 30. He said to prevent post-poll violence, central armed paramilitary forces will continue to remain stationed in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur, albeit under the supervision of the respective state governments.
As for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Surat candidate being elected unopposed, or the Congress’ Indore candidate withdrawing his nomination, Kumar said the EC is committed that there should be a contest everywhere, but it had no way of knowing, unless the candidate complains, whether they were coerced to withdraw their nomination or the process was being “gamed”.
The commission said 642 million voters exercised their franchise in the 2024 LS polls, a world record, and the highlight of the elections was the near absence of violence. It said there was no re-polling in 27 states and Union Territories, and only 39 instances of re-polling in the rest of the states, of which 25 instances were in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. In 2019, re-polling took place at 540 polling booths across the country.
The EC also refused to grant additional time to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to back his claims that attempts were made to influence 150 district magistrates and collectors, who are the returning officers for the polls, ahead of the June 4 vote count. The EC had earlier asked Ramesh to submit factual details by Sunday evening of the allegations that he made in a social media post that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had phoned 150 district magistrates and collectors.
Ramesh sought a week to submit his reply, which the EC rejected, instructing him to respond by 7 pm on Monday. It said that “failing which it would be presumed that you have nothing substantive to say in the matter and the Commission would proceed ahead to take appropriate action”. The EC said no district magistrate has reported any such undue influence alleged by Ramesh.
The CEC and other members of the poll panel gave a “standing ovation” to the voters of the country at the press conference. Kumar said of the 642 million voters, 312 million were women voters, the largest ever number of women to have turned up for voting. He also detailed the EC’s efforts at curbing money power, with over Rs 10,000 crore worth of freebies, liquor, currency and drugs seized, against items worth Rs 3,475 crore in 2019.
On the enforcement of the model code of conduct, Kumar said the EC changed its earlier approach towards regular government work, which was “whatever can wait shall wait” to “whatever can work shall work” as long as it was not aimed at deriving a political benefit. He said the EC approved 98 per cent of the requests within 48 hours. He also highlighted how the EC functioned without bias in transferring officials, including relatives of politicians, from the offices of chief ministers in six states, put a stop to the “Viksit Bharat” messages and removed anonymous hoardings. The EC also strictly implemented its guidelines for data collection of political parties by promising electors social welfare if they come to power, he said.