We were always here, never went missing: CEC
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday said that the elections commissioners were always here, and never went missing.
Addressing a press briefing, he said social media meme pages are calling us ‘ Laapataa Gentlemen’. But we never went missing, we were always here, Rajiv Kumar said.
“Now memes can say the ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’ are back,” the CEC added.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that the county created a world record with 64. 2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year.
He said over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the world’s largest electoral exercise.
CEC also said that only 39 repolls took place in 2024 general elections as against 540 repolls in 2019.
The CEC further said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded its highest turnout in four decades at 58.58 per cent overall and 51.05 per cent in the Valley.
“Seizures of Rs 10,000 crore, including cash, freebies, drugs and liquor, were made during the 2024 polls as compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2019,” he said.
EC rejects Jairam Ramesh request: The Election Commission on Monday rejected Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s request to get a week time to detail his allegation against Union home minister Amit Shah.
Ramesh had alleged that Shah called up 150 district magistrates across the country after voting for the Lok Sbha elections had ended.
The poll panel has directed the Congress leader to file a response by 7 pm on Monday.
Earlier in the day, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar reacted sharply to Ramesh’s allegation, saying it was not ‘right to spread rumours and doubt everyone’.
“Can someone influence them (district magistrates/returning officers) all? Tell us who did this. We will punish the person who did it…It is not right that you spread a rumour and doubt everyone,” the CEC said at a briefing ahead of the counting of votes.
On Sunday, the poll panel had sought detailed information from Jairam Ramesh over his allegations against Shah, adding that no district magistrate has reported experiencing any undue influence.
