Voting starts in India
INDIANS headed to the polls on Friday in what are the world’s largest democratic elections.
Voters will choose their next government and decide whether to hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third term in office.
The elections will pan out in seven phases over the next six weeks.
Launching the electoral process in the world’s biggest and most vibrant democracy, polling in the first and largest phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began for 102 parliamentary constituencies in 21 states/uts, spanning various terrains including hills, jungles, islands and urban sprawls from Jammu and Kashmir to Andaman and Nicobar, Bihar to Lakshwadeep, and Maharashtra to Mizoram.
Over 160 million voters in 187 000 polling stations will decide the fate of 1 625 candidates in the first phase.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) said that it had taken a “slew of decisive measures” for the peaceful and smooth conduct of the elections.
While the remaining six phases of polls will continue until June 1, with around 970 million voters lined up to exercise their right to franchise – the counting is scheduled for June 4.
The ECI has deployed 4 627 flying squads, 5 208 static surveillance teams, 2 028 video surveillance teams and 1 255 video viewing teams. A total of 1 374 inter-state and 162 international border checkpoints are closely monitoring any illegal flow of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies. Strict surveillance is being maintained on maritime and aerial routes as well.
The world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Kishanji Amge, voted in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on Friday morning.
Amge – who is 62.8cm tall – arrived with her family who carried her to avoid the huge crowds at the polling station in a school near her home.
As soon as Amge reached the venue, dressed in a red Barbie-style dress, wearing blood-red lipstick and trinkets on her fingers and wrists, the paparazzi mobbed her until she entered the polling booth, giggling at the commotion and attention.
“This is my second Lok Sabha election. I always exercise my right to vote and it is also my duty to the country,” Amge said,proudly displaying her inked finger to the media.
Just last month, as a global celebrity in her own right, Nagpur-born Amge made a fervent appeal on behalf of the ECI and Maharashtra’s chief electoral officer, urging people to vote.
“Voting is our duty and right. With our vote, we can ensure that we elect a good leader to represent us,” said the 30-year-old, who is the brand ambassador for Missionsky India Human Rights Association.
On her 18th birthday on December 16, 2011, she was officially declared the shortest living woman on the planet by the Guinness World Records, catapulting her to instant stardom, and making her a darling of India’s Orange City.
Amge’s vertical growth is stunted by a genetic condition called “primordial dwarfism”, but she has stood tall and worked in Indian and Hollywood films, and television shows.
She has been the subject of documentaries and media articles the world over.