Election Commission of India (ECI) has called for a press conference today, June 3, at 12.30 pm, a day ahead of the counting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. This might be the first time in India's electoral history that the poll body has convened a press conference on the conclusion of an election.
"Press Conference by Election Commission of India on General Elections 2024," the media invite from the poll body said. Till the 2019 parliamentary polls, deputy election commissioners used to hold media briefings after each phase of polls, but the practice has been done away with.
The voting for the marathon seven-phase polling process for the Lok Sabha elections, which began on April 19, came to an end on Saturday (June 1). The vote counting will begin at 8 am on Tuesday, June 4, and continue until counting of votes polled across 543 constituencies is completed by the Election Commission.
LOK SABHA ELECTION EXIT POLL PREDICTION
Most exit poll results predicted a stunning victory for Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, improving its performance over its 2019 record when it won 352 seats.
Two polls predicted the BJP also improving its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while some pollsters claimed the NDA will cross 400 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, the Opposition leaders have approached the Election Commission, urging the poll body to count ballots first and declare their results before the outcome of the EVMs is announced.
INDIA bloc also requested EC to verify date/time on Control Units and confirm voting start/end times, specify slips, tags, and details for counting agents.
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Why counting of postal ballots first?
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The vital importance of counting postal ballots first, and declaring the results of postal ballots first. This is very clearly stated in the statutory rule. This has been understood by the Election Commission over the years."
The Opposition parties have asked their agents to monitor the vote-counting process closely on Tuesday and ensure that form 17C, which contains the number of votes recorded at each polling station, is shared with them.
