New Delhi:

The ability to praise or see the positives is on a decline, noted Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, adding that the trend of criticism (ninda ras), on the other hand, is on the rise. The comment comes in the backdrop of the Opposition’s questions over the voting machines.

Speaking at the NDTV ‘Indian of the Year Awards 2024’ on Friday, Mr Kumar said even though conducting the elections can be logistically challenging, the voters of the country are capable of resolving all issues in a peaceful manner.

“What surprises me, positively, is the resilience of the Indian voter… this country can resolve all its issues peacefully through the ballot, not the bullet… This is the biggest satisfaction,” he said.

As several polling personnel were honoured with the NDTV ‘Indian of the Year Awards 2024’, Mr Kumar said it is the “presiding officers who keep the democracy alive”.

“There are 10,50,000 booths in the country. Each booth comprises around four to five presiding officers. This makes it around 50,00,000 fellows. And who are these people? You’ve seen them – they are teachers, Anganwadi workers, officials from the agricultural department… people are pooled from various departments,” the CEC said.

He said the entire country’s workforce is at the service of the poll commission during the elections. “We are a team of 500-600 people in the commission. During the elections, we become 15 million…,” he said.

The top official of the polling body explained how the presiding officers are “randomly” deputed to various polling booths across the country, in the presence of political party leaders and their agents, to avoid allegations of bias.

“The world’s highest polling station is in Himachal Pradesh. In the opposite south, there is another huge part of India… in the west, you have the desert, and in the east, you have the wettest place in the world, where we have the polling station. The machine (EVMs) works in the desert, under zero degree temperatures, under moisture-laden conditions… So long as they (polling personnel) are there, Indian democracy is absolutely in safe hands and perfect,” he said.

Opposition parties have often accused the poll body of bias and raised doubts over the functioning of voting machines. After losing the Maharashtra elections last month, the Congress alleged lack of transparency in the electoral process and manipulation of the voting machines.

The Supreme Court, recently, disapproved of repeated doubts raised over the voting machines, berating the tendency of political parties to raise doubts over their functioning whenever they lose elections while conveniently accepting the system when they win.

Mr Kumar also lamented that despite efforts, voters in cities continue to avoid turning up at polling stations on election days. While Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur and Naxal-affected areas have witnessed high turnout, “people in cities do not vote”, he said.

Despite several initiatives by the polling commission, voters in Bengaluru and Gurugram did not turn up in large numbers at the booths, he added.

Colaba in Mumbai, Mr Kumar said, registered the lowest turnout in the recently-held Maharashtra assembly elections. “But I am sure, urban apathy and youth apathy will also be taken care of in times to come,” he said.