Arvind Panagariya, Bibek Debroy cast vote in LS polls

New Delhi [India], May 25 : Sixteenth Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya and Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), exercised their franchise in the national capital on Saturday in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls and appealed to people to vote in large numbers.

"It is every citizen's responsibility. Delhi in general is far better organized, the process is very smooth, and every citizen should cast their vote," Debroy said.

He said the election process "is too prolonged" in the hot conditions prevailing in the country.

"India is witnessing a severe heatwave; I think no one anticipated this. I wish it could have been contracted a bit," he said.

The Lok Sabha elections are being in held in seven phases till June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4. The first phase of voting took place on April 19.

He rejected the apprehension of opposition parties regarding EVMs (electronic voting machines).

"I think this has been done to death. Every time I lose, I blame the EVM; when I win, I don't give credit to the EVM," he said.

After casting his vote with his wife, Panagariya said he is probably the oldest first-time voter in his booth.

He lauded the system of voting in Indian elections through EVMs.

"No mess can happen here...whereas the mess can easily happen in the USA (because of postal ballot)."

All seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi went to the polls on Saturday.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor