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When 3 top EC officials carpooled to Vigyan Bhavan to blow the poll bugle
The three top officials of the Election Commission of India walked into the plenary hall of the building together to announce the exhaustive election schedule.
As the convoy of Election Commission cars drove into Vigyan Bhavan on Sunday evening, there were some surprised looks when only one stopped at the main porch. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and election commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra had travelled together to Vigyan Bhavan for the much-awaited press conference on the 2019 general elections.
The three top officials of the Election Commission of India walked into the plenary hall of the building together to announce the exhaustive election schedule. Polling for all states and union territories will be conducted in seven phases - from 11 April to 19 May - and the results will be announced on 23 May.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora described it as the ‘biggest festival of democracy’. And with 900 million registered voters – and spread over a period of 74 days - the Election Commission certainly has its task cut out for the mammoth exercise ahead.
When they left Nirvachan Bhawan (Election Commission of India), the plan of the three top officials was perhaps not to drive together to the press conference venue – a little less than 4 kilometers away.
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In a video of the three top election commissioner leaving the building, Sunil Arora is seen asking the two election commissioners to join him for the short drive. Sunil Arora takes the front seat to give his colleagues room in the rear seats.
At the Press conference, the Chief Election Commissioner spoke about the months of preparation that went into the planning of the world’s biggest democratic exercise. Arora spoke about the many hours that they had spent at meetings with top state and central government officials to work out the dates for the election.
“Senior officials have been slogging for months together to work out dates,” he said.
Of the 900 million who are entitled to vote in the elections that start on 11 April, the Chief Election Commissioner said there were about 84 million more voters than the 2014 elections. That is more than the population of Germany. Nearly 15 million – more than twice the population of Hong Kong – are going to be first-time voters.
