Polled EVMs kept in Strong Rooms in Warangal Parliamentary Constituency of Telangana. Photo: ECI
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) today stated that the voter turnout at polling stations in the first four phases of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 was about 66.95%. It informed that approximately 451 million people voted during the first four phases of ongoing General Elections.
“High voter turnout is a message from Indian voters to the world at large,” the ECI said while calling upon voters to come out and vote in large numbers in the remaining three phases. As a part of its outreach to enhance voter turnout, ECI mentioned an array of various interventions, it has introduced to appeal and motivate voters to cast their vote, during the ongoing elections.
Also read: Can Narendra Modi beat low voter turnout?
“Don’t get surprised, if you receive a call from Cricket legend and ECI National Icon, Sachin Tendulkar, appealing to voters to cast their vote during the ongoing Lok Sabha election,” it stated.
“It’s really heartening to see that on Commission’s request, different institutions, influencers and celebrities having significant reach are working enthusiastically on a pro-bono basis,” Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner, said.
ECI acts against post-poll violence in Andhra Pradesh
Meanwhile, taking a tough stand on the post-poll violence in Andhra Pradesh on May 13, 2024, the ECI approved the following proposals of the State Government:
- Transfer of District Collector, Palnadu and initiation of departmental enquiry.
- Suspension of Superintendent of Police (SP), Palnadu and SP, Ananthapuramu districts and initiation of departmental enquiry.
- Transfer of SP, Tirupati and initiation of departmental enquiry.
- Suspension of 12 subordinate police officials in these three districts (Palnadu, Anathapuramu and Tirupati) and initiation of departmental enquiry.
- Special Investigation team to investigate the matter and submit an action taken report to the Commission within two days in each of the cases. First Information Reports (FIRs) are to be updated with additional appropriate Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections and other relevant statutory provisions.
- The state has requested to retain 25 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies for 15 days after counting to control any possible violence after the declaration of results.
The Commission also directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to retain the 25 CAPF companies in Andhra Pradesh for 15 days after counting, to control any violence after the declaration of results.
It may be recalled that ECI has summoned Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy and Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh Harish Kumar Gupta to New Delhi to personally explain the reasons for the failure of the administration to contain post-poll violence. Several incidents of violence were reported in Ananthapuramu, Palnadu and Tirupati districts on the poll day and post-poll day. Incidents were also reported before the poll involving assault, setting the property/office of the opposite party on fire, threatening, damaging the campaign vehicles, stone pelting etc. Most of these incidents happened in the districts of Annamaya, Chittoor and Palnadu and a few in Guntur, Anantapur and Nandyal.
– global bihari bureau
