G7 Summit: PM Modi praises India’s election 'transparency'

New Delhi: The use of technology has made elections in India fair and transparent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the leaders of the G7 nations at Apulia in Italy on Friday, adding that the recently held parliamentary polls in the country were the “biggest in the history of mankind”.  

He said that the outcome of the parliamentary polls allowing him to take over as the prime minister for the third term was a “victory of the entire democratic world”.

Modi is on his first foreign visit after being sworn in as the prime minister for the third time. He attended an outreach session that the G7 leaders held with the leaders of other countries on the sideline of the bloc’s 50^th summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The prime minister told the G7 leaders about the enormity of the Lok Sabha elections, which saw the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party crossing the halfway mark to win the majority in the House, despite a significant rise in the tally of the opposition parties.

“I am fortunate that the people of India have given me the opportunity to serve them for the third consecutive time. This has happened for the first time in India in the last six decades,” Modi told the leaders of the G7 and other nations. “The blessings that the people of India have given in the form of this historic victory is a victory of democracy. It is a victory of the entire democratic world.”

He said that he was extremely happy to be present among all the other world leaders just a few days after assuming office for the third time.

“The uniqueness and magnitude of the elections in India can be understood from some figures: More than 2600 political parties, more than 1 million polling booths, more than 5 million Electronic Voting Machines, 15 million polling staff, and about 970 million voters, out of which 640 million people exercised their franchise,” said the prime minister.

“The entire electoral process has been made fair and transparent by the ubiquitous use of technology. and the results of such a large election were also declared within a few hours! This was the biggest festival of democracy in the world and the biggest in the history of humanity,” he said, adding: “It is also a living example of our ancient values as the mother of democracy. And I am fortunate that the people of India have given me the opportunity to serve them for the third consecutive time. This has happened for the first time in India in the last six decades.”