NEW DELHI, Apr 11: The April 9 polling in the two states of Assam and Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry have drawn global attention in respect of size and arrangements for polling.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Saturday that the polling in the two states and the union territory was witnessed in person by 38 delegates from 22 countries to have a first-hand idea of the electoral process in India.
The ECI in a statement said the delegates witnessed the scale, precision, and vibrancy of India’s electoral process as part of the poll panel’s International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP) 2026. It said the delegates described their experience as “a true festival of democracy” and expressed admiration for the record voter participation, meticulous planning and seamless execution of polls by the ECI.
“Indian voting, this is a true festival of democracy for the whole world…what is overwhelming for me is the enthusiasm of people to vote. We can only learn from this process; it’s a huge process and done right,” Branimir Farkas from Croatia is quoted having said in the statement.
The ECI also said elaborate security arrangements have been made at the counting centres where the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were sealed and stored after polling waiting to be opened on May 4 for counting. The counting centres have been provided with round-the-clock, three-layered security arrangements. The outer layer will be guarded by territorial police, the ground floor by personnel of the India Reserve Battalion, and the gates of the strong room by the Central Armed Police Forces.
Meanwhile, the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma offered prayers at the Khatu Shyam temple in Rajasthan’s Sikar, and expressed confidence that the BJP would win around 100 seats in the State’s 126-member Assembly. Speaking to reporters, Mr Sarma rejected the allegations levelled by Congress leader Pawan Khera against his wife holding three passports, including two of Muslim countries, as “baseless, false” and said the matter would be dealt with as per law.
In another development, a video of a public, cordial conversation between Mr Modi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi – a rarity in the current polarised politics – has gone viral on social media. The PM and the Congress MP were among leaders who had gathered at the Parliament complex on Saturday to pay tribute to social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule on his 200th birth anniversary.
The video showed Mr Modi greeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Ministers JP Nadda and Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gandhi and others, and then stopping to speak to the Leader of the Opposition.
Sources said the Prime Minister asked Gandhi about the health of his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was hospitalised recently. “Gandhi informed him that her health is improving. In response, the Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction and extended his best wishes,” sources added.
Sonia Gandhi was discharged from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on March 31 after recovering from a systemic infection (when pathogens enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body). She had been admitted with a fever on March 24.
(Manas Dasgupta)
