Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls as the largest democratic elections ever held in the world.
"India just concluded the largest ever election and the scale of the election was immense. It tells us about the faith people have in our democracy. In the 2019 general elections, India witnessed over 61 crore voters exercising their franchise. It was the largest democratic election ever held in the world. This number is approximately twice as the current population of the USA. The number of voters in India is more than the total population of Europe, he said.
In the first edition of his popular monthly radio address after Bharatiya Janata Party's mega victory in the Lok Sabha election, PM Modi said that it is the first time ever, that women enthusiastically voted, as much as men did.
"In a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh for just for one woman voter, a polling booth was set up. The highest polling booth in the world is located Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh at an altitude of 15,000 meters. The voting percentage of men and women is almost the same," he said.
Talking about the relation of democracy with elections in the Indian context, PM Modi said, "Rich and poor enthusiastically participated in the recently concluded elections that decided the fate of the nation. We must constantly remind ourselves that our democracy is great and it runs in our veins through years of practice over generations."
Giving details about resources used in the conduct of the polls, the Prime Minister said, "Can you imagine the number of resources which were involved in the conduct of these elections? These elections were successful because of the efforts of lakhs of teachers, officers and employees."
"Three lakh personnel of Para-military forces were deployed. From different states, 20 policemen worked hard for the conduct of the polls. About 10 lakh polling stations were established, 40 lakh EVMs and 17 lakh VVPAT machines were used for the conduct of the polls," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday returned with his monthly radio broadcast 'Mann ki Baat' on Sunday and said he was undergoing a bout of emptiness as he was not able to address the nation through Mann Ki Baat.
( With inputs from ANI )