The biggest show of the world’s biggest democracy is ready to be staged and countdown has started with the announcement of dates by the Election Commission of India. The participants will now be toiling hard by rehearsing intensely to weed out the last minute glitches. It is indeed a sacred moment for the nation as an unfaltering democracy, to re-imagine and re-discover itself.

It   will be a futile  effort to congregate words and phrases to portray the massiveness of the 2019 edition of the general elections, and thus judicious to take help of figures. About 900 million or   90 crorepeople, which is   almost triple of the entire population of   United States have been registered as voters   and this   includes 1.5 crore new voters in the age group of 18 to 19.The overall electorate is 84.3 million more than the number of people recognised as voters during 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, number of polling stations will go up to 10.35 lakh as compared to nearly 9.28 lakh set up during 2014 polls and   nearly 39.6 lakh electronic voting machines and 17.4 lakh voter verifiable paper trail machines would be used in these polling stations this time. Also, in terms of expenditure, it is going to be the costliest elections in the world so far. This time the polling exercise will cost a mind-boggling   Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion), significantly more than   $6.5 billion spent during the U.S. presidential and congressional contests in 2016. Social media spending is also likely to be dramatically higher, touching nearly Rs 5,000 crore from Rs 250 crore in 2014.

The above social media spending figures   have amplified the fact these platforms have now become   inseparable parts of the entire socio-democratic fabric of the country. Their sheer penetrating power among the populace has prompted the ECI to   earmark certain   model code   of conduct for them. For the first time, all candidates will be asked to give details of their social media accounts while filing their nomination papers. The political parties   too, would now have to include all expenditure on campaigning ads on social media in their election expenditure account.

From voter-verifiable paper audit trail machines and   new vigilant citizen app to an eagle eye on social media campaigning, if we analyse the changing and evolving roles   of the ECI over the years, we find that it had never deviated   from its fundamental objective –to ensure   free, fair and participative polls at any cost.

It is largely because of   the tutelage of ECI we   have thrived   and marched as world’s biggest democracy over the decades. And it will be with unflinching   confidence in this guardian’s abilities, the electorate will deliver the mandate. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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