India set a new world record with a staggering 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on June 3. Addressing the media, Kumar highlighted the massive scale of the world's largest democratic exercise, which involved over 68,000 monitoring teams and a workforce of 1.5 crore polling and security personnel.
Dismissing social media memes that dubbed the election commissioners as 'Laapataa Gentlemen' (Missing Gentlemen), Kumar said, "We were always here, never went missing. Now memes can say the 'Laapataa Gentlemen' are back."
The Election Commission hailed the smooth conduct of the polls, with only 39 repoll incidents reported across the country, a significant improvement from the 540 repolls witnessed in 2019.
A notable highlight was the highest voter turnout in four decades recorded in Jammu and Kashmir, with an overall turnout of 58.58 percent, including 51.05 percent in the Kashmir Valley.