India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Monday.
Addressing a press briefing, he said over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the world's largest electoral exercise.
"India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year," said Mr. Kumar.
On social media memes calling election commissioners 'Laapataa Gentlemen', Mr. Kumar said, "We were always here, never went missing."
"Now memes can say the 'Laapataa Gentlemen' are back," he said.
‘Give proof of attempts to influence poll process’
Mr. Kumar aldo dared the opposition to share evidence of allegations that returning officers and district magistrates were influenced to vitiate the poll process so the panel could take action against them.
The opposition should also tell the Commission about those trying to influence the poll process before the counting of votes begins, Mr. Kumar said.
“You cannot spread a rumour and bring everyone under a cloud of suspicion,” Mr. Kumar said.
The Commission had made preparations to deal with any foreign attempt to influence the poll process but these allegations have come from within the country itself, he said in an apparent dig at the opposition.
Demands of parties met
Mr. Kumar had accepted all the demands made by the multi-party delegation that met the panel on Sunday, and asserted that the issues raised by them were part of the election process going on for seven decades.
“Some demands were made by a multi-party delegation. We have agreed to all the demands,” Mr. Kumar said, indicating that most of the issues raised by the multi-party delegation were part of election manuals.
